The Apocalypse 2: Rise Of Zephiles
by Pinkamena666
Summary: The Babylon Rogues return in this action-packed sequel. Mephiles the Dark releases a monstrous creature from its imprisonment within time to help him achieve his nefarious goal.
1. Chapter 1

It was night and it was cold and two guards were patrolling the compound. The other military personnel were inside either sleeping or monitoring the security cameras. They worked in shifts, switching back and forth from sleeping to monitoring and then back to sleeping. It was just another ordinary night except when the patrol team didn't report in.  
>"Hey, Barnes! Go check on them, will ya?" asked one of the guards monitoring the cameras.<br>"Sure." said Barnes, and he headed outside. "Where are you guys?" he yelled. "This isn't funny! It's not my turn to be out here! Now, where are-" he stopped when he noticed a pair of feet sticking out of an open doorway of a shack a couple feet away.  
>He ran over to investigate. When he swung the door open he saw the two dead guards who were supposed to be patrolling. They were, of course, dead.<br>The guard inside was still watching the cameras when he saw something blue-ish zip by the camera that was outside. He was about to call Barnes when...  
>"We have two down! I repeat, two down."<br>"Barnes! Get back in here! Now!"  
>"What?"<br>"Get back inside! There's something out there!"  
>"There's what? What's out-"<br>His voice suddenly stopped.  
>"Barnes?" asked the guard. "Barnes?" No answer. He got up and pulled out his gun. "You guys. With me." he said, pointing to two nearby guards.<br>"They exited the building, guns drawn. The guard who was monitoring the cameras signaled the other two to split up. He went straight and the others went left and right. He heard a thud and turned around. One of the guards was dead.  
>"Jimmy?" he asked, pointing his gun.<br>He heard a gunshot and looked. The other guard was dead, too. He fired off a couple of rounds, hoping to hit something.  
>"Where are you?" he yelled.<br>"Right here." came a voice.  
>He turned around and saw a blue-ish hedgehog standing in front of him. In a split second, the hedgehog knocked out the guard.<br>"Foolish human." said the hedgehog.  
>"He entered the base. There were a bunch of corridors. The hedgehog took the one on the left and rounded a corner. There were two guards patrolling the corridor.<br>"This is too easy." the hedgehog said, rushing the two guards. The guards were down in a matter of seconds. The hedgehog turned down a couple more corridors until he came to a large metal double-door. There was a sign on the right side of the door. It read, "Do Not Open Under Any Circumstances". This, of course, didn't bother the hedgehog. He walked to the doors and evaporated into a cloud of black smoke. He eased his way through the small crack in between the large doors. He re-formed on the other side. He saw what he was after; a large machine. It was circular with the center being hollow. It looked like the Stargate. The hedgehog walked over to it and hit some buttons on the side. The machine powered up and the center was filled with a blue energy. The hedgehog stepped back as a giant, dark green, reptilian creature emerged from the blue energy. It had a long tail that had spikes near the end. The creature let out a long growl. When the creature stood up, it was a full 40 feet.

"It feels good to be back!" the creature said in a deep,  
>guttural voice. He looked down at the hedgehog. "Who are you?"<br>"Me? I'm the one who freed you."  
>"'Freed me'? Why?"<br>"Well, I have a plan I think you might be interested in."  
>The creature thought for a minute and then said, "I'm listening."<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Wave got to the bottom first. Jet, Sonic, and Blaze followed. They were at the frozen lake where Wave was attacked by the crazed Leopard Seal.  
>"It was around here somewhere." said Blaze.<br>They continued searching the area. No luck.  
>"Well, all I see is white snow." said Sonic. "No green Emerald."<br>"Well... we tried." said Jet. "Someone must've found it."  
>"In Antarctica?" said Sonic.<br>"Well, it's not here." said Jet. He turned to Wave, who was knelt down next to the hole in the frozen lake. "Wave. What do you think?"  
>Wave reached down and rubbed her hand across a pool of black and blue liquid. When she lifted her hand up, the liquid was like slime.<br>"I think..." She turned to the others. "We need Jason."

Jason sat down at a cafeteria table. He had a tray with Tater Tots, Pepperoni Pizza, and a chocolate milk. It wasn't long before he had company.  
>"Hello." he said. "Mike."<br>"Jason. How are you?" asked Mike.  
>"Fine." he said. "What do you want?"<br>"I just wanted to, uh, apologize. I acted like a jerk."  
>"Are you apologizing because you're sincerely sorry? Or because you know I can take you down in five seconds flat."<br>"Five seconds? That's it?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"Guess I underestimated you."  
>"Yeah. You did."<br>"So, how are your friends?" asked Mike.  
>"Who? You mean the animals I was with a week ago?"<br>"Yeah. Them." said Mike.  
>"Not sure. I haven't seen them for a..." he stopped because he heard a ruckus near the front entrance.<br>"What's going on?" asked Mike.  
>"Not sure."<br>Just then Wave entered the cafeteria. She looked around, and once she saw Jason she hurried over. Everyone in the cafeteria was watching. Jason got up and the two hugged, then sat down. Mike had to move over.  
>"Hey. You're..." Mike started.<br>"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Wave said quickly to shut him up. "Jason," she said slower. "We have a problem."  
>"A problem? Don't tell me Mekka's..."<br>"Uh, no. Mekka's still dead. No, it's... something else."  
>"Does it involve another save-the-world quest?"<br>"It might." said Wave.  
>"So what's the issue?"<br>"For starters, we're still missing two Emeralds. And I found some more of the black and blue slime."  
>"Where?"<br>"Remember where Blaze found the green Chaos Emerald?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"So, whatever left the slime now has the green Emerald."  
>"You sure?"<br>"Positive."  
>"Well, then. We got a mission." he turned to Mike. "Mike. Nice talking to you."<br>Jason stood up and Wave followed. On their way out, someone asked, "Off on another adventure?"  
>"You bet." said Jason.<br>When they passed the office, the principal ran out but stopped when she saw where they were headed. The entire group was waiting for Jason in the parking lot, each holding an Extreme Gear.  
>"Hey, guys." said Jason.<br>"Hey, Jason." said Sonic. "Long time, no see."  
>"It's actually just been seven days, but... uh... so what's with the Gear? You all have one. Even Tails."<br>"Actually," said Tails. "This one's yours." He gave Jason the board.  
>"Hey, thanks." said Jason. "What about you?"<br>"We're working on another one for me. But seeing as how I can already fly..."  
>"Right." said Jason.<br>"Well, what are we doing standing around for? We've got a mission!" said Wave.  
>"Oh. Right." said Jason. "Let's go."<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

A minute or so later, they were airborne. They flew for 10 more minutes when Tails became tired and rested on the back of Sonic's board. Twenty more minutes passed.  
>"We almost there?" asked Jason.<br>"We'll be there in about three minutes." said Wave.  
>"These things are fast." said Jason. "Faster than last time."<br>"Well, once Tails started resting on my board we sped up." said Sonic.  
>"Yeah. Sorry about that." said Tails. "Guess I was slowing you down, huh?"<br>"No worries." said Wave. "Your board's almost done. Then you can fly like us."

Like Wave said, three minutes later, they were at Antarctica.  
>"It's freezing here." said Jason.<br>"It's Antarctica, Jason." said Blaze.  
>"Easy for you to say. You can burst into flames." said Jason.<br>When they arrived at the spot where the Chaos Emerald fell, they landed. Jason was the first to land. He knelt down, put his right hand on the back of the board, and slid off. He carried the board over to the spot where Wave was attacked by the Leopard Seal and set it down. The others followed.  
>"Where was the slime you were talking about?" Jason asked.<br>"It should be right there." said Wave.  
>"Well, I don't see anything." said Jason.<br>"But..." said Wave, almost frantically. "I-it should be there."  
>"Wave. Calm down." said Jason. "I believe you." He knelt down and felt the area of the ice where the slime used to be. "That's odd."<br>"What is?" asked Sonic.  
>"The spot on the ice here..." he paused and felt the ice again. "It's sticky."<br>"What's it mean?" asked Blaze.  
>"It means..." said Jason. "that something was here but is now, in fact, gone." He stood up.<br>"Back to the sky?" asked Tails.  
>"But where do we go?" asked Knuckles.<br>"I... have no idea." said Jason.  
>"Well, that's just great." said Blaze. "There's something out there and we have no idea what it is."<br>"I have a feeling we'll found out soon enough, though." said Jason.  
>"How so?" asked Blaze.<br>"Enemies tend to show themselves to the heroes at some point to either try and kill 'em or warn them." said Jason.  
>"True." said Blaze.<br>"Why don't we go to New York?" said Jason.  
>"New York? New York City?" asked Wave. "Think we'll find something there?"<br>"I don't know. I just have always wanted to go to New York City." said Jason. "Though we may find something."  
>They turned to leave when Jason saw a shadow fly by. He stopped and looked up. Wave turned around.<br>"Jason?" she asked. "What is it?"  
>"I don't know. Thought I saw something."<br>They continued on to New York.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mephiles!"  
>"What is it Zephiles?"<br>Zephiles landed outside the base and folded his wings.  
>"Get ready. They're headed to someplace called New York."<br>"New York? That's perfect."  
>"How is it perfect?"<br>"It means they're unfocused." he said, holding up a green Emerald. "Jason's going to pay for interfering in my plan." He looked at the Emerald. "He keeps getting in the way!"  
>"Well, we know where he's going. Shouldn't we go after him?" asked Zephiles.<br>Mephiles lowered the Emerald.  
>"I'll go. You stay here. We can't risk revealing ourselves to the world just yet."<br>"What should I do?" asked Zephiles.  
>"You could try and look for that hedgehog you were talking about."<br>Zephiles let out a low growl.  
>"I hate that hedgehog. He trapped me in time for a long time. Do you know what it's like? Living the same second over and over again?"<br>"No. I don't." said Mephiles. "Well, let's go our separate ways. Meet back here in one day exactly. We need to go over Plan B. Now that Jason eliminated my original plan."  
>"One day. That's all the time I need."<p>

"So. This is New York City." said Wave.  
>The group was standing on the roof of a tall building.<br>"It's... big." said Jason.  
>"Well, it is a city, isn't it?" said Wave.<br>It wasn't long before they were encountered by their next foe. Wave turned around and saw a cloud of black smoke hovering a few feet behind them.  
>"Uh... Jason?"<br>What?" he asked.  
>"Look." she said.<br>He turned around, as did everyone else, and saw the smoke. The black smoke came together to form a hedgehog.  
>"Who are you?" asked Knuckles.<br>"I am Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark." He looked at Jason. "So... you must be Jason. You've caused quite the predicament, you know."  
>"Predicament?" asked Jason.<br>"You see, Jason. I'm sick of you getting in my way."  
>"'Get in your way'? I just met you."<br>"You remember Mekka, don't you? And how about that seal?"  
>"What do you know of them?"<br>"They were essential pieces to my plan. They both failed. Now I was forced to unleash a new force of evil. All thanks to you."  
>"What do you mean?"<br>"You'll see." said Mephiles. "I don't want to ruin the surprise."  
>Jason ran for him just as he was evaporating again.<br>"Get back here!" yelled Jason.  
>Mephiles turned back into the black smoke and disappeared.<br>"So. I guess you were right." said Blaze. "Our enemydid show himself after all."  
>"Yeah." said Jason. "What did he mean when he said 'they were essential to my plan'?"<br>"Well, he could've left that black and blue slime at Antarctica." said Blaze. "After you killed the Leopard Seal, it must've fallen off."  
>"If that's the case, then Mephiles has one of last two Chaos Emeralds." said Jason.<br>"Oh, man!" said Sonic. "I forgot something."  
>"What?" said Jason, turning around.<br>"There's only six Emeralds, now. Remember? Mekka sent one back in time so I couldn't use them against him."  
>"That's right. So that means that the only one left is now with Mephiles. Do you remember which one he sent back in time?"<br>"Yeah. It was the red one." said Sonic.  
>"That means Mephiles has the green one." said Tails.<br>"Exactly." said Jason.  
>"Actually..." said Knuckles. Everyone turned to look at him. "There's one more."<br>"What?" said Jason. "What is it?"  
>"The Master Emerald." said Knuckles.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

"'The servers are the seven Chaos Emeralds. Chaos is power enriched by the heart'? What does that even mean?" asked Jason.  
>"Exactly what it says. The seven Chaos Emeralds are the Master Emerald's servers. The more Emeralds one has, the more powerful that person becomes. They have unlimited power." explained Knuckles.<br>"What can they do?" asked Jason.  
>"All sorts of things. They can help create nuclear weapons, turn thoughts into power, control time and space, and there have even been rumors that they have healing powers."<br>"Healing powers?" asked Jason.  
>"They can heal you if you're hurt and it's been said that if someone dies, an Emerald can bring them back if you get one to them in time. But only with all seven Emeralds can the revived person be completely human."<br>"Completely human?" asked Jason. "What if you use just one?"  
>"An unfortunate side effect." said Knuckles. "That's all I know."<br>"So where's this Master Emerald?" asked Wave.  
>"Angel Island."<p>

The next day, the team headed for Angel Island and Mephiles and Zephiles met up again.  
>"Did you find who you were looking for?" asked Mephiles.<br>"No. No luck. You?"  
>"I had a talk with Jason."<br>"And?" asked Zephiles.  
>"They're headed for Angel Island. Now's our time."<br>"Finally!" yelled Zephiles. "Maybe he knows where I can find the one who imprisoned me."  
>"Maybe. But I doubt it."<br>"Why?"  
>"If you were trapped in time and space as long as you say, then the one you're looking for is most likely dead by now."<br>"Hmm. That's a shame. I would've loved to kill him myself."  
>"Do you remember what he looked like?" asked Mephiles.<br>"How could I forget? He was a black hedgehog."

"It's nice here." said Jason.  
>"It'll stay nice as long as the Master Emerald stays here. Once the Master Emerald leaves Angel Island, then down it comes."<br>"So the Emerald is what's keeping the island floating?" asked Jason.  
>Knuckles nodded. "Did you know that when this island was first discovered, it was called 'The Floating Islands'?"<br>"No. No, I didn't." said Jason.  
>"So, where is this Emerald anyway?" asked Blaze.<br>"Follow me." said Knuckles.  
>Before long they were standing at the bottom of a whole bunch of steps. Everyone was looking up.<br>"Wow." said Wave. "That's a whole lot of steps."  
>"This is the biggest flight of stairs I have ever seen." said Jason.<br>"The Master Emerald's up at the top." said Knuckles.  
>"What is the place?" asked Jason, looking around.<br>"More like was." said Knuckles. "This place used to be the 'Shrine of the Master Emerald'."  
>Jason, Wave, Knuckles, and Blaze went up the stairs. Jet, Sonic, Tails, and Silver stayed at the bottom. After what felt like an hour, they were there. Staring at a really big Emerald.<br>"It's like a bigger version of a Chaos Emerald." said Jason. "A Green Chaos Emerald."  
>"Well said, Jason." Wave said, jokingly.<br>"So, now what?" asked Blaze.  
>"What do you mean?" asked Knuckles.<br>"Well, now that we're here, now what?"  
>"I... don't know." said Knuckles.<br>No one said a thing for a while.  
>"Maybe we could pick it up and take it with us." suggested Jason.<br>"Impossible." said Knuckles. "It can't be moved or the island will fall."  
>"Oh. Right." said Jason. "So... you really mean 'implausible'."<br>"What?"  
>"Well, it's not impossible because you can do it. It'simplausible because it's highly unlikely."<br>"I still don't..." said Knuckles, getting cut off.  
>"Guys! Help!" came Tails' voice.<br>Jason ran to the top of the stairs and looked down, as did the others. They saw a large, green, reptilian creature at the bottom, pinning Tails against the stairs with its hand. It had huge claws on each hand. Its tail was raising up from the ground, probably getting ready to strike. Jet, Silver, and Sonic were unconscious on the ground, with Mephiles standing by them. Jason pulled out his sword and dove for the creature.


	6. Chapter 6

Jason flew down the stairs, sword drawn. Zephiles saw him and dropped Tails. He whipped his tail at Jason. Zephiles' tail wrapped around Jason and slammed him into the stairs. Jason dropped his sword.  
>"Guess it's my turn." said Wave, taking off down the stairs.<br>"Wave! Wait!" yelled Knuckles.  
>Wave ignored him. She continued down the stairs. Zephiles swung at her but she dove for the sword and stabbed his hand. Zephiles whipped his hand backwards and let out a growl. Wave threw Jason his sword. He caught it and stabbed Zephiles' tail. He let go of Jason and Jason got up on his feet.<br>"Yeah, Jason! Kill him!" yelled Silver.  
>Mephiles looked down at him and kicked him in the head.<br>Jason raised the sword in a defensive position. Zephiles swung his tail and Jason blocked. Wave ran to help out Jet and the others. Mephiles saw her coming and sank into the ground. Wave stopped when he disappeared. She looked around to see if she could see Mephiles. He wasn't anywhere to be seen.  
>"Wave! Look out!" Jet yelled.<br>She turned around just in time to get a fist to the face. She hit the ground hard and quickly looked to see if Mephiles had turned into a solid figure again. He had.  
>"You can't fight me, Wave." he said. "Just give up."<br>"Never."  
>"Foolish girl." Mephiles said approaching her.<br>Jason ducked another one of Zephiles' attacks and looked over at Wave.  
>"Wave!" he yelled.<br>Zephiles swung at Jason with one of his huge, clawed hands. Jason spun a little and fell to the ground. His sword flew out of his hands. Zephiles shot out his tail. Jason rolled out of the way just in time to dodge the attack. Zephiles' tail impaled the ground. He pulled his tail out and tried again. Jason dodged again, rolling in the opposite direction. Zephiles stomped the ground and Jason rolled to the left. Zephiles tried stomping him again but Jason kept rolling. He then stood up and looked at Wave. Mephiles had her pinned to the ground with his foot. Jason looked back at Zephiles who just stood there. They both looked over at Mephiles and Wave. She was trying to pry his foot off of her.  
>"Stop struggling, Wave." Mephiles said. He moved hid foot up to her neck, "Oh, how I could end your life right now. You're so fragile. So easy to break."<br>"Hey, Mephiles!" Jason yelled. "Why don't you bring that tough talk over here?"  
>"Don't worry, Jason. You'll get your chance soon enough."<br>"Wrong answer." Jason said, running for Mephiles and grabbing his sword on the way.  
>Mephiles raised his foot in preparation for a kill. Jason threw his sword. Mephiles started bringing his foot down, and at the same time saw the sword flying towards him. He burst into a cloud of smoke just as the sword was about to hit him and right before crushing Wave's throat. Zephiles unfolded his wings. Jason quickly turned around. Zephiles' flapped his wings a couple times before taking off. Jason ran to Wave.<br>"You all right?" Jason asked.  
>"Yeah. I'm fine now." she said, taking Jason's hand and standing up. "Thanks to you."<br>"Well, what was I going to do, right?" he said with a smile.  
>She smiled too. "Yeah. Right."<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone stood looking at the Master Emerald.  
>"So, now what?" Blaze asked,<br>"As of now; nothing." Jason said.  
>"Nothing?" Wave asked. "Then why did we come here?"<br>"Well, we now know where the Master Emerald is." Jason explained. "All we have to do is make sure Mephiles and this new menace don't get their hands on it."

Zephiles landed and folded his wings.  
>"I really hate that kid." Mephiles said. "I hate him a lot."<br>They were on top of a building rooftop, overlooking a park in New York.  
>"What are we going to do?" Zephiles asked.<br>"We have to shift our focus on eliminating Jason first." Mephiles said. "He's learned too much. I can't afford him finding out who planted the EMP on his ship. Jason MUST be stopped."  
>"Hey, Meph." came a feminine voice from behind.<br>Mephiles and Zephiles turned around.  
>"Oh. It's you." Mephiles said. "Have you done what I asked?"<br>"Yes." said the female. "What shall I do now?"  
>Mephiles thought for a second. "Find Mekkaku's last experiment and bring it to our base. It should be in a hidden chamber beneath Mekka's base."<br>"I'm on it." she said.  
>She turned to leave when...<br>"Wait." said Mephiles. She stopped and turned around. "There's one other little thing."

The group was flying on their boards.  
>"Where should we start first?" Wave asked.<br>"Back to New York, I guess." Jason said.  
>"I just hope Mephiles shows his face again." Knuckles said. "I can't wait to teach him a lesson."<br>"We're not ready for another encounter, Knux." Jason said.  
>"He's right, Knuckles." Sonic said. "That wasn't a fight. It was a beat-down. Clearly they're more powerful than Mekkaku."<br>"Right." Jason agreed. "If we're going to beat these two, I'm going to need some help from you guys. I'm not going to be able to do it alone."  
>"You know we're here for you." Wave said.<br>"Yeah." Sonic said. "We can make it if we all stick together."  
>Jason smiled. "You guys rock."<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Jason put his hood on. It covered most of his face from the security camera hidden inside the ATM. He held his hand out and the screws started to spin. They flew into his hand and he put them in his pocket. He slowly opened the ATM and grabbed about $1,000,000. This should be enough, he thought as he closed the ATM. He grabbed the screws from his pocket and they flew back into the sockets and screwed back in.

"I'd like a suite, please." he said.  
>"$16,000." the person at the counter said.<br>Jason handed her $16,000.  
>"You actually have $16,000 in cash?" she asked.<br>"I come from a rich family." Jason lied. "My folks let me come here for a birthday present."  
>She just looked at him, smiled, and handed him a key card. "Have a nice stay."<br>Jason took the card and smiled. "I will."

He unlocked the door and walked in. He closed the door and opened the window. The room was huge. There were couches in the middle. A TV by the window, A fireplace beneath the TV. A bedroom to the left that included a bathroom. There was also a bathroom to the right. He sat down on one of the couches. The others flew in through the window. Wave was carrying Jason's board.  
>"Nice place." Wave said, setting hers and Jason's board down by the TV.<br>"This place is amazing." said Tails.

It was getting late, so everyone went to bed. Jason and Wave took the double-bed. Silver and Blaze took the two single beds in the guest room. Jet, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails each got their own couch that doubled as a bed.  
>Jason looked over at Wave who was wide awake.<br>"Something wrong?" he asked her.  
>"Oh, nothing." she said. "It's just that... well... i feel useless."<br>Jason rolled over to face her completely. "Wave. You're not useless, okay?"  
>"Well, what can I do?" she asked, still looking up at the ceiling. "Sonic can run fast. Tails can fly. Silver can use psychokinesis. Blaze can control fire. Even Knuckles has strength. You have almost everything. What about me?"<br>"And Jet." Jason pointed out.  
>Wave looked over at him briefly and smiled.<br>"Wave. Look at me." Jason said gently. She did. "You don't need powers to be special. Or useful. How many people do you think can fix a space ship? Not a whole lot of people. But most importantly, you're my friend. That will never change. You'll always be important, and useful, to me."  
>Wave smiled and Jason smiled back.<p>

A mysterious figure crept in through the partially opened window and moved silently passed Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Jet. It made its way into the main bedroom. The figure belonged to Mephiles' undercover agent. She walked over to Jason and held a small vile over Jason's mouth. She tipped it over and black liquid poured out of it and into Jason's mouth. He sat up quickly causing the liquid to move down his throat. He grabbed his chest in pain and started screaming. Wave sat up quickly.  
>"Jason?" she asked frantically. She looked over and saw a figure leave the bedroom. "I'll be right back, Jason." she said, taking off after this mysterious assassin. She ran passed the others on the couches, waking them up.<br>"What's going on?" asked Sonic, half worried and half tired.  
>Something's wrong with Jason." she answered, grabbing her Gear. "Make sure nothing happens to him." She jumped out the window, slid the board under her feet, and hovered in the air. She saw someone jumping over rooftops and took off. The figure saw her coming and threw something at her. Wave jerked to the side at the last second as a blade shot passed her head. If she had waited, she'd be a goner. Whoever this was, she thought, is clearly an expert. The figure jumped down into an alley and disappeared. When Wave arrived there was no one there. Just an open sewer drain. I really don't want to do this, Wave thought as she flew to the open sewer drain. She grabbed the board, pulled it out from under her and dropped down into the sewer. Luckily she landed on a walkway and not in the sewage. She made her way deeper and deeper into the sewer and further and further away from the hotel. And Jason. It got to the point where she believed that whoever came down here was probably not down here anymore. She turned around to head back when she was engulfed in a cloud of black smoke. Everything got darker and darker until she finally passed out.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Jason finally calmed down but his chest still hurt.  
>"Where's Wave?" he asked.<br>"She left to go chase someone." Sonic answered.  
>Jason sat up to get out of bed but, instead, fell to the floor. He grabbed on to the bed and picked himself up. He then stumbled out into the living room and grabbed his board.<br>"You going out there?" Blaze asked.  
>"I have to."<br>"Why?" Blaze asked.  
>"Because, I..." he started. "Because she's my friend and I promised her that I'd never let anything or anyone harm her."<br>Blaze nodded to signal that she understood. Jason hoped on his board and took off. He flew until he saw an open sewer drain. He dropped down and landed next to it. There was black slime around the rim of the manhole. He jumped down and found Wave.  
>"Wave!" he yelled.<br>He ran over to her to help her up. When he got to her, she had already started to try to get up. He helped her the rest of the way and she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.  
>"Are you okay?" Jason asked frantically.<br>"Yeah." Wave said with a cough. "I think."  
>"Let's get you back to the hotel."<br>He grabbed her Gear and they headed back to the hotel.

She awoke the next morning with a headache. She put a hand to her head.  
>"Hey." She looked over. Jason was sitting in a chair next to her side of the bed. "How you feeling?" he asked.<br>"My head hurts." she answered. "Other than that, I'm fine."  
>"You had us worried."<br>"Sorry." Wave apologized. "I don't know what happened."  
>"You don't have to apologize. Everyone makes mistakes."<br>"I know. But what if the next mistake costs someone their life?" Wave asked.  
>"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I can't stand to lose any of you guys." He reached out and took her hand. "Especially you."<br>"Really?" Wave asked.  
>"Yeah. You're the closest thing I've to a friend since... ever."<br>Wave smiled but then the smile soon faded away. "Did you mean what you said earlier about me being useful?"  
>"Of course." he answered with a smile.<p>

Mephiles attached a thin hose to a test tube. In the test tube was Mekkaku's final experiment. Mephiles took a syringe with a 10-inch needle and inserted it through a tiny hole in the side of the test tube and inserted it into the experiment's arm. He drew some of the experiment's blood and pulled out the syringe.  
>"Mephiles." a female voice came from behind.<br>"Did you do it?" Mephiles asked without turning around. He transfered the blood from the syringe into a beaker.  
>"Yes." she answered.<br>Mephiles put the beaker into a mechanical device that was attached to a larger machine. It was similar to the test tube only it was more mechanical and there was no way to see inside. "Good girl." he said.  
>"Is there anything else you want me to do?" she asked.<br>Mephiles pushed a button and the machine started up. Mephiles then flipped a switch and the test tube lit up like a house on Christmas. "No. Everything's in place." He turned and walked away from the devices and down a hallway. The female joined him.  
>"Are you sure?" she asked.<br>"Yes. you're work is done for now."  
>"So I have to go back to the others and continue playing along?" Mephiles didn't say anything. He was getting tired saying "yes". "But... I don't..."<br>"Listen." Mephiles said, stopping and turning to face her. "I've chosen you for this mission. This can't work without you. You're the key. Do you understand?"  
>She nodded. "Yes."<br>"If you fail, we all fail. If you succeed, we all succeed. I will not survive long enough to finish the process. Not with Jason alive. This is why you must finish it. You must carry on my work after I'm gone."  
>"I understand." she said.<br>"Good." Mephiles said. "Now go. I have work to do."  
>"Right." she said, starting to turn around but stopped. "What about Zephiles?"<br>Mephiles started walking away. "He won't succeed, either."  
>She watched him leave and then left, too.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

"What do we do now?" asked Silver.  
>They were standing on the roof of the hotel.<br>"We could always wait for something to happen." suggested Jason.  
>"Wait?" asked Wave. "That doesn't sound like the JasonI know."<br>Jason looked over at her and smiled. "Well what do you propose we do?"  
>"I don't know, but I can't just stand here doing nothing. I need some action."<br>"Action?" Jason said. "Now that doesn't sound like the Wave I know."  
>"What do you mean?" she asked.<br>"Well, usually you're peaceful. Now you actuallywant something to happen."  
>"I guess I'm becoming more like you." she said.<br>They hopped onto their Gear and took off.  
>"We need to be down on the ground searching." Jason said. "Can't see anything up here."<br>"Well, how are we gonna do that?" Wave asked.  
>"I have an idea." Jason said, flying downwards, and dropping to the ground.<br>He was in a used car lot looking at a used van. They others landed next to him, after Silver disabled the camera of course.  
>"Nice car." said Blaze.<br>"It's ours, now." Jason said, raising his hand.  
>The car lifted off the ground and up into the air. Jason got on his board and started bringing the car to an abandoned garage. It was conveniently located next to a junkyard. It was night time by the time they arrived. Jason slid the car into the garage and closed the doors as soon as the others flew in.<br>"Now what?" asked Wave.  
>"We modify it." Jason said. "Make it so that all of the windows are one-way so only we can see out. Enforce it with metal. You know... the usual."<br>"Well..." Wave said. "Let's get started."

Mephiles looked down at the garage from the roof of a nearby building. Then that familiar figure appeared again.  
>"Zephiles said you needed to see me?" she asked.<br>"Yes." Mephiles said, not turning around. She went over and stood next to him. "I need you to make sure the effects occur."  
>"Well, I can't be long." she said. "My 'friends' think I'm scouting out a building."<br>"Then make your observations on these guys quick and then head back to the others. They can't get suspicious. I already have one problem. I don't need another."  
>"I hear you."<br>"Good." Mephiles said, turning and walking away. "Keep up the good work."  
>She turned her head as far as she could. "Was that a compliment?"<br>"It's the closest to one you're going to get." and then he vanished into black mist and faded away.

Wave reached her hand out behind her. "3/4."  
>Jason handed her a three-quarters wrench. When she closed her hand around the wrench, Jason pulled his hand back.<br>"What the-" he said softly.  
>"What's wrong?" Wave asked.<br>"Nothing." Jason said. "I think you scratched me."  
>"Are you serious?"<br>"I don't know. Could've been something else." he said and then walked away.  
>When he was gone, Wave set the wrench down and pulled off her glove. Her fingernails were twice as long as normal and were also pointy.<br>"What's going on?" she asked herself.  
>Blaze walked over. Wave hid her hand behind her back, but not in a way that made it look obvious.<br>"How's it coming?" Blaze asked.  
>"It's comin' along good." Wave answered.<br>"Is something wrong?"  
>"Nope." Wave said. "Nothing."<br>Blaze nodded slowly, turned, and walked away. Wave looked at her hand again. The fingernails were back to normal. She pulled her glove back on and continued working on the van.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey, Jason." Blaze said. "Whatcha doin'?"  
>"Wave asked me to look for a piece of metal for the van." he answered.<br>They were outside in the junk yard. Luckily, the junk blocked all views from the road.  
>"Speakin' of Wave..." Blaze said.<br>Jason stopped searching and stood up. "What about her?"  
>"Haven't you noticed anything odd about her lately?"<br>"How so?"  
>"Well, she scratched you." Blaze said. "And when I went to talk to her, she had her hand behind her back."<br>"That does sound a bit odd." said Jason. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"As will I." the figure said, before slipping away into an alley.

Jason walked over to Wave. "Is this what you're looking for?"  
>Wave stood up and looked at the piece of metal floating beside Jason. "This looks good." she said. "Could you set it down right there?" she asked pointing to a spot near the van.<br>Jason set the metal down in the spot where Wave pointed. "You okay?"  
>"Yeah." Wave said. "Why?"<br>"You just seem a little different."  
>"How so?"<br>"I don't know. You don't seem like yourself."  
>"I feel really good, right now."<br>"You know you can always talk to me, right? If anything's wrong."  
>"Yeah, I'll... I'll do that. Thanks." she said.<br>Jason turned and walked away. "It's getting late, Wave. Better get some sleep."

Wave woke up and went to the bathroom. She almost screamed when she looked in the mirror but she covered her mouth (or beak) with her hands. The scream came out muffled. Her eyes were red. Red, like the blood in your body or the fire in a fireplace.  
>"What the-" she said, still covering her mouth. She removed her hands and leaned forward, leaning against the sink. "What's happening to me?" she said softly.<br>Jason woke up, too. "Wave?" he said, looking over at the spot where Wave had been laying.  
>The sheets were all a mess from when she got up. He got out of bed and went out into the living room. The others were still asleep. He approached the bathroom door and knocked. It wasn't closed all the way so it just swung open.<br>"Wave?" he asked.  
>"Jason." Wave said in a soft, snake-like voice. She was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, facing away from the door.<br>"Wave?" Jason asked, sounding, well, worried. "You okay?"  
>"I'm fine."<br>"You sure? 'Cause you sound a little-"  
>"I said I was fine!" she yelled, her voice going from snake-like to her normal voice again.<br>"Okay." Jason said. "Sorry, uh- See you in the morning."  
>He gently closed the door.<br>"Hey." Sonic said sleepily. "What's goin' on?"  
>Jason headed back to the bedroom. "Nothing, Sonic. Go back to sleep."<br>He yawned and went back to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Jason woke and found Wave to be back in her spot in bed. Wave started to wake up, too.  
>"Hey." Jason said. "Mornin'."<br>"Hey." Wave said, yawning. "Hey, listen. About last night..."  
>"You don't have to say anything."<br>"No, I do." Wave said. "You see... I was having a really bad night and I may have acted out of character."  
>"Out of character?" Jason asked. "Your voice had completely changed."<br>"That... was..."  
>"Look, Wave. You don't have to tell me everything. Just don't lie to me."<br>Wave saw how serious he was and nodded. "Okay."  
>"Okay?" Jason said. "Okay. Let's go."<p>

They flew back to the garage and Wave continued working on the van. Jason sat down next to her. She was underneath the van doing some high-tech fix-it thing.  
>"Whatcha doin'?" he asked.<br>"I am making it so if the van tips over it'll be able to flip back up on four wheels."  
>"Sounds both useful and difficult."<br>"Maybe for you humans, Jason. But not for me."  
>"You humans? What's that supposed to mean?"<br>"It means that the Babylon Rogues are more sophisticated."  
>"You developin' some sort of attitude?"<br>"What do you mean?" Wave asked.  
>"Well, it seems that you're implying things about humans."<br>"I'm not implying anything."  
>"You just seem different ever since you..."<br>"Ever since what?"  
>"Ever since you had that encounter in the sewers."<br>Wave slid out from under the van and Jason almost screamed. He quickly stood up. "Wave?"  
>"How do I look, Jason? Do I look different to you?"<br>Her eyes were red again and there were patches of skin that, instead of her usual purple, was gray. Especially around her eyes. She was also starting to grow sharp teeth.  
>"Different? You look..."<br>"Go ahead." she said, standing up."Say it." She threw the wrench she was holding aside. "I look like a monster."  
>"I wouldn't say a monster."<br>"THEN WHAT?" she yelled, with a little bit of that hiss-y voice again.  
>"I don't know, I..."<br>"You don't know." she said sitting back down. "Well, don't worry about it. It comes and goes once in a while." She grabbed another wrench and slid back under the van.  
>"You should've told me about this, Wave. This is serious."<br>"Just forget about it."  
>"Forget about it? I can't just forget about it? You're my... best friend in the whole wide world. I'm gonna find a way to fix this."<br>He turned to leave when Wave started to laugh. She slid out from under the van again and stood up. "You're not gonna be able to fix every problem, Jason."  
>"I know. But I can try."<br>Wave grinned and picked up a cloth to wipe her hands clean. "You'll try." she said softly, dropping the cloth and pulling on her gloves. "In moments like this, Jason," she said, walking passed him. "there's no time for trying." She left the room leaving Jason thinking.

Jason wandered through the garage and found Wave sitting on a box. It looked like she was crying. As he approached her, he noticed that she really was crying. He sat down on the box next to her.  
>"Wave?" Jason asked. "You wanna talk?"<br>She turned to look at him and he saw that she looked normal, aside from two dark patches on her skin.  
>"What's happening to me?" she cried. "I can't control myself. I say and do things that I normally won't do."<br>"It's not your fault, Wave. I'm gonna fix this. I promise."  
>"How can you fix this?" she asked, pulling off her glove and holding up her hand. It had gray patches and her fingernails were twice as long as normal.<br>"I don't know, Wave." Jason said. "But I'm not gonna give up on you. I am going to find a way to fix this. I promise."  
>"Don't make promises you can't keep." Wave said, dropping her hand.<br>"I don't make those kind of promises." Jason said.  
>Wave smiled and hugged him.<p>

"Well, well, well. I better tell Mephiles about this."


	13. Chapter 13

"HE'S GOING TO DO WHAT?" Mephiles yelled, making her jump.  
>"He's going to try to reverse the process." she repeated.<br>Mephiles turned around and slammed the table. He let out an angry sigh.  
>"You planned for this, right?" she asked.<br>"Of course I did." he said. "It's just that that kid is getting on my nerves. He's always trying to ruin my plan. Well... he may have defeated Mekkaku but he's still far from winning."  
>"You didn't seem too upset when Jason defeated Mekka." she said. "Why? What good was he?"<br>"He was a test subject." Mephiles said. "I needed to see how strong Jason was."  
>"So what's the next move?" she asked.<br>"Follow me." Mephiles said, walking down a hallway.

"How's Wave?" Blaze asked as Jason approached the van.  
>"She's sleeping." he said. "Something's happening to her and I need to find a way to help her."<br>"How are we gonna find a way?" Blaze asked. "We don't even know what's wrong with her."

"What is it?"  
>"Another part to the plan." Mephiles answered.<br>They were looking at a pile of clothing such as a brown trench coat, a black hat, something black, black pants, purple shoes, black shirt, and black goggles.  
>"Am I supposed to wear that?" she asked.<br>"When the time comes." Mephiles answered.  
>She approached the pile of clothing.<br>"What will I use as a weapon?" she asked, turning around.  
>Mephiles threw a rod at her and she caught it. She looked at the tip. It was the Green Chaos Emerald.<p>

Jason waited until it was night and snuck over to the nearest pharmacy. He used psychokinesis on the door lock to unlock it. He then made his way to the aisles and grabbed some sleeping pills. He was gone by the time the police arrived.  
>Jason hurried back to the garage and started making a kind of medicine, using the sleeping pills, that could knock Wave out if she ever went wild. He was done by the time the sun came up.<br>Blaze was the first to arrive. "Were you here all night?"  
>"Yeah." Jason replied sleepily. 'Yeah, I was."<br>"Aren't you tired?"  
>"A little."<br>"Where's Wave?" she asked.  
>"She's sleeping in the bathtub in the bathroom."<br>"Really?" Blaze asked, sounding sort of shocked. "Why?"  
>"She didn't want to risk turning in the middle of the night and attacking you."<br>"I hate seeing her like this. I wish there was a way to reverse it."  
>"Haven't found anything yet. But I'm-"<br>Just then there was a loud crash that came from the bathroom. Jason and Blaze ran to find out what it was. When they got to the bathroom, the tub was smashed and there was a hole in the wall. It was early in the morning so it was still dark out. They couldn't see a thing. Just then a figure burst from the shadows and knocked the two over. Jason quickly stood up and turned around to see who it was.  
>"Wave?" Jason asked.<br>Wave was crawling on the wall, fast, in his direction. She leaped off the wall to strike but Jason dodged the attack and Wave sprinted out the hole in the bathroom.  
>"No!" Jason yelled. "Wave!"<br>Wave stopped a few feet from the hole and turned around. Jason flipped the switch and the bathroom light turned on. The light spilled out through the hole and shown on Wave. She was all gray and her eyes were red.  
>"Wave's gone, Jason." Her voice was different. It was like two different voices talking together. One was Wave's and the other was some kind of demonic voice. It was creepy. And when she spoke, Jason saw that she had sharp teeth. She turned around and took off into the darkness.<br>"Wave." Jason said. "What happened to you?"  
>Blaze walked over to him. "We'll get her back, Jason. I promise."<br>"Don't make promises you can't keep."  
>"What?"<br>"It was the last thing she said to me." he said. "Before now, I mean."  
>He turned and headed to the van.<br>"Where are you going?" Blaze asked him.  
>"After her."<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

The two piled into the van and Jason started it up.  
>"When did Wave finish the van?" Blaze asked.<br>"Late last night before she went to sleep in the bathroom."  
>He drove the van out of the garage and took a right, heading off in the direction of Wave.<br>"Where are you." Jason said, as if Wave would answer back. She did.  
>She landed on the hood of the van and growled like some demonic wolf.<br>"Holy crap!" yelled Jason.  
>Wave began the process of trying to smash the windshield and then stopped.<br>"Why'd she stop." Blaze asked.  
>"She remembers. She enforced the windshield, making it extremely durable." Wave then climbed up onto the roof. "But the roof isn't."<br>Wave ripped a hole in the roof big enough to drop in. Blaze slid out of her seat and blocked an attack delivered by Wave. Blaze swung a punch but was stopped when Wave delivered an uppercut that knocked laze into the ceiling. She fell to the floor on her back and Wave leaped on top of her, snarling. Blaze's arms burst into flames but Wave didn't seem to pay attention. Jason saw that Blaze was in trouble, pushed a button that made the windshield slide down into the hood, and slammed hard on the brakes. Wave went flying through the opening and hit a tree. Jason got out of the van and walked over to her. She got back on her feet and stood watching him.  
>"Wave!" Jason said. Come back!"<br>"I already told you, Jason. You're girlfriend is no longer here."  
>She lunged at him knocking him over. She tried to dig her claws into his face but he grabbed her wrist and threw her off.<br>"I'm not gonna fight you!" Jason yelled.  
>"Then prepare to die."<br>Just then they heard some clapping. They glanced over and saw Mephiles standing in the road. He let out an evil laugh and held out his arms.  
>"It's just like I hoped. The transformation worked perfectly."<br>"I'm gonna kill you, Mephiles!" Jason yelled.  
>He was about to charge when Wave grabbed him by the throat. She had a really tight grip and it kept getting tighter.<br>"Wave." Mephiles said. Wave looked over at him. "It;s time to go. We have other things that require our attention." She looked back at Jason. "You can kill him later, but we have to go now."  
>She looked over at Mephiles, shot Jason one more quick glance, and released her grip. Jason fell to the ground trying to catch his breath. He looked up and saw Wave leaving with Mephiles. Then, he blacked out.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

"Jason. Jason, wake up."  
>"Huh?" Jason said, opening his eyes. He let out a gasp. "Wave!" he yelled, quickly sitting up. "Wave?"<br>"She's gone, Jason." Blaze said. "She left with Mephiles."  
>"It's all my fault." Jason said, standing up. "I should've stopped her."<br>"You did what you could. I know you couldn't hit her."  
>Jason headed back to the van.<br>"What's the next move?" asked Blaze, following him.  
>"I'm gonna find Mephiles and kill him." Jason said, opening the driver's side door.<br>"How 'bout a way to do that?" she asked. "Jason?" He didn't hear her. Or he just didn't answer. "Jason!"  
>Jason drove the van into the garage and got out. The others were waiting.<br>"Where were you?" asked Silver. He noticed scratch marks on Jason's neck and Blaze's arms. "What happened?"  
>"It was Wave." Jason said. "Whatever Mephiles put in her has completely taken over. She's become a monster."<br>"Oh, no." said Tails sympathetically. "I liked her."  
>"We all did, Tails." said Sonic.<br>"Is there a plan?" asked Knuckles.  
>"We need to find them first before we can do anything." said Blaze.<br>"Yeah." said Jason. "But where to look."

"Why didn't you let me finish him?" Wave asked. She was crawling on the wall next to Mephiles.  
>"It's not time yet."<br>"But don't you want to kill him so he won't interfere?"  
>"You don't seem to understand what will happen the next time we run into Jason." Mephiles said, stepping into an elevator. Wave followed, releasing her grip on the wall.<br>"What's gonna happen?" she asked, standing up on two legs.  
>"Jason misses you deeply. If he sees either one of us, he won't let us out of his sight. We can't risk having him follow us to the machine. We're not ready."<br>"When will we be ready?" Wave asked. "I'm getting bored already."  
>"Patience, Wave. You'll have your chance."<br>The elevator doors opened. They stepped out into a room that contained a huge machine.  
>"Is this it?" Wave asked.<br>"Yes." answered Mephiles. "This is what we're going to use to wipe out the humans."  
>"Just the humans?" Wave asked.<br>"Yes. Those pathetic humans don't deserve this planet. We'll wipe them off the face of the earth."  
>"You really hate them, huh?"<br>"I hate them a lot." Mephiles said. "Especially that Jason." Wave didn't say anything. Mephiles took a few steps forward and then turned around. "You know what? Maybe Iwill let you have a little fun after all."  
>"Really?"<br>"You will be able to leave this cave at anytime to attack Jason and his friends but only on one condition; you make sure you're not being followed when you return."  
>"You got it." Wave said, getting back into the elevator. When the doors opened again, she stepped out and left the cave.<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

"Why are we back here?" asked Blaze.  
>Jason and the others were at the spot where he and Blaze fought Wave.<br>"We last saw Wave here." Jason said. "Might as well start here."  
>They continued walking further into the forest. It was dark and hard to see.<br>"It's really dark in here." Knuckles said. "Hey, Blaze. Can't you shed some light, or something."  
>"If you want the forest to burn down." Blaze said.<br>"Shh." Jason said, holding out his hand to signal the others to stop. They did.  
>"What is it?" Sonic asked.<br>Jason didn't say anything. He just slowly reached for his sword. Before he could react, a figure leaped out from the shadows and tackled Jason against a tree.  
>"Hey!" Jason yelled. "Let me go!"<br>"You got it." Wave said, throwing Jason into another tree. He fell to the ground and quickly got back up.  
>"Why are you doing this Wave?" Jason asked.<br>"Because it's so fun." she answered, sounding as though she really enjoys this.  
>"It's fun to hurt your friends?" Blaze yelled.<br>Wave just smiled and took off. Jason followed.  
>The rest took off after them.<br>"Jason! Come back!" Tails yelled.  
>Wave and Jason leaped over and ducked under branches with Jason never too far behind. Wave ducked into a cave and Jason followed. He slowed down a bit, being cautious. It was dark apart from the glow from the moon outside. There were various holes in the roof of the cave which allowed light to pour in. The cave was a rocky hall with other various halls branching off. He turned down one hallway but he didn't see anything. It was starting to get a little scary. He was starting to wonder whether Wave was still in the cave or not.<br>"Jason." Wave's voice echoed.  
>Jason immediately stopped and looked around. There was a patch of light on the floor in front of him and behind him that came from those holes in the ceiling. He saw nothing.<br>"Where are you?" Jason asked.  
>Wave let out a laugh that echoed throughout the cave. And a creepy laugh it was. "Come and find me. If you can."<br>Jason took off down the cave. Wave suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and pinned Jason against the cave wall.  
>"That was fun. Now how about you hide and I try to come find you?" Wave said teasingly.<br>"You've got to stop this Wave. Mephiles is just using you."  
>"You don't get it, Jason. I like this power I have. It makes me feel good."<br>"Please don't make me hit a girl, Wave."  
>"Oh, please." Wave said. "I dare you."<br>"Okay." Jason said kneeing her. She stumbled backwards. "Forgive me." he said, throwing his hand up. Nothing happened. No energy spheres came out like he was expecting. "What the-" he said to himself.  
>Wave lunged at him. He ducked and she latched on to the wall.<br>"What's the matter, Jason? Losing your powers?"  
>She kicked Jason in the chest and he went flying into the wall on the opposite side of the hall-cave. To Jason's surprise, it hurt. He tried to get up but got his far as his knees and stopped.<br>"Poor, poor Jason." Wave said. "Looks like you're not as powerful as Mephiles thought."  
>She walked over to him but stopped. She could hear voices approaching the cave. Instead of inflicting more damage, she took off out of the cave, zipping by the others.<br>"What the-" Knuckles said. "That was Wave."  
>"Never mind her." Sonic said. "She's obviously fine. Where's Jason?"<br>They rushed into the cave and saw Jason crawling around the corner back into the main cave hallway.  
>"Jason!" Blaze yelled, rushing to help him. She helped him to his knees and then knelt down in front of him with her hands on his shoulders.<br>"You all right?" she asked.  
>"Where's Wave?" he asked her weakly.<br>"She took off past us as we were coming in." she answered. Jason let out a short groan. "Don't worry. We'll get her back."  
>They all left the forest, piled into the van and drove back to the garage. Blaze had to drive because Jason could barely move.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

Wave dropped from a branch and stood up. She was still in the forest. She closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and inhaled deeply. She was thinking about the fight she just had and how good it felt.  
>"You're having too much fun." a voice said.<br>Wave quickly opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the voice. The figure emerged from the shadows to reveal herself to Wave. When Wave saw who it was she calmed down a bit.  
>"That's your opinion." Wave said. "Not mine."<br>Mephiles' helper smiled. "You should be more careful." she said, walking passed Wave. "You almost led them to the machine. I wouldn't be surprised if Mephiles punished you for it."  
>"You worry about yourself. How's that?" Wave said. "Letme worry about me."<br>"I'm not worried about you." she said, turning to face Wave. "But still... I would make sure you continued to prove yourself useful to Mephiles. Because... if you don't..."  
>"I appreciate your concern," Wave said, cutting her off. "but I think I can take care of myself."<br>"We'll see, Wave. We'll see."

The next morning, Blaze was the first to enter the garage. On her way in, she noticed Jason sitting on the edge of the roof. She found the stairs that led to the roof and went to see what was going on.  
>"Here you are." Blaze said, as she got to the roof.<br>"Hey, Blaze." Jason said, not sounding like his usual fun self.  
>"Something wrong?" Blaze asked as she walked over to him.<br>"I'm losing my powers." Blaze sat down next to him. "I should just quit while I'm ahead."  
>"That's it?" Blaze asked. "You're giving up." She sounded frustrated.<br>"I'm losing my powers, Blaze. If I couldn't stop Wave, how am I going to stop Mephiles?"  
>"Look at me." Blaze said. She put her left hand on Jason's right cheek and made him look at her. "We're going to get through this. We can't just give up now."<br>Jason gently grabbed Blaze's wrist with his right hand and forced her to lower it. "He has Wave. How can I kill her?"  
>"Maybe you won't have to." Blaze said.<br>"Well it doesn't seem like there's a way to save her." said Jason. "And I highly doubt Mephiles will free her from his poison."  
>"This is what Mephiles is counting on." Blaze said. "He obviously has this all planned out already. He's using Wave to get to you. Why he's letting her attack us on her own."<br>"Well it's working."  
>"Wave wouldn't give up if she was in your position." Blaze said. "And are you really just going to give up on her?"<br>"What can I do? I've lost everything."  
>"You haven't lost everything." came a voice from behind them. Jason and Blaze turned to see who it was. It was Sonic. The others were standing behind him. "You still have us."<br>Jason couldn't help but smile.  
>"See?" Blaze said. "You don't have to do this alone. You think we're just gonna stand around and wait for the world to end?"<br>"You guys up for it?" Jason asked. "I mean... it could be dangerous."  
>"You kiddin'?" Silver said. "Wave was our friend, too. There's no way we're gonna let Mephiles get away with this."<br>"Thanks, guys." Jason said. "Well... let's go find Mephiles."


	18. Chapter 18

Blaze went to make sure the van was prepped and ready to go. Jason took the two syringes that had the sedative he made earlier. The others helped them. When they were done, they gathered in front of the garage.  
>"Okay, guys." said Jason. "We leave here in five minutes for what is probably going to be the most dangerous mission we've been on. Now, I want to thank you all for helping and not giving up like I almost did."<br>"Hey." said Sonic. "What're friends for?"  
>"All right." said Jason. "Everyone get ready."<p>

Wave arrived back at Mephiles' base to find him standing in front of the mechanical experimental chamber. Zephiles was hunched in a corner to the right of the experimental chamber.  
>"I see you had some fun." Mephiles said, without turning around.<br>"Yeah. It was awesome." she said, approaching him. "Never had so much fun in my-"  
>Mephiles whipped around, backhanding Wave in the face, knocking her to the ground. In anger, without thinking, she leaped at Mephiles. He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the experimental tube.<br>"You led them right to the cave where the machine was. You're just lucky they didn't decide to go exploring or they may have found it. And we may very well have lost the war."  
>"It won't happen again." Wave said.<br>"It better not." Mephiles said.  
>"Mephiles!"<br>Mephiles turned his head as far as he could to see her. "What?"  
>"It's Jason and the others!" she said, running towards him. She stopped when she was about two feet away "They're planning on attacking."<br>"When?" he asked, still holding onto Wave.  
>"Now." she answered.<br>"No!" Mephiles yelled, dropping Wave to the floor. "It's too soon!" He walked away from the experimental tube.  
>"What's the next move?" asked Zephiles.<br>"We have to act now." Mephiles said. "Zephiles." he said, turning to face him. "It's your turn for some fun. We need to slow down Jason's progress, so I need you to go to the area of New York where Jason is staying and cause as much damage as possible. Make sure you either slow him down or kill him if you have to. Do NOT let him get away."  
>"You got it." Zephiles said. He sprinted outside. unfolded his wings, and took off for New York.<br>"What about me?" Wave asked, still on the ground.  
>"You're staying with me, Wave." Mephiles said. "I have something special in mind that you're going to help me with. And you're NOT going to fail me this time."<br>Wave didn't say anything. She just stared at him, not moving and feeling a little bit of anger.


	19. Chapter 19

Jason and the others gathered into the van and pulled out of the garage. They were going to head right to the woods when they heard a loud explosion, a rumble, and some screams coming from the city.  
>"What now?" Jason asked.<br>"Shouldn't we go help?" Blaze asked, already knowing the answer.  
>"Yeah." Jason said. "Wave's going to have to wait."<br>He turned left and headed toward the screams.  
>Zephiles stood in the street, breathing fire at buildings and stepping on cars. When he saw a van turn a corner in the distance and stop, so did he.<br>"Jason." he said, staring at the van.  
>"Zephiles." Jason said.<br>He stepped on the gas and the van sped forward. Blaze leaned out the passenger side window and launched fireballs at Zephiles. Some of them made it but others faded out before they could make contact. Zephiles picked up a car and threw it at the van. Jason swerved the van to the left and then to the right to dodge a fireball. Silver was holding two cars with psychokinesis which he threw at Zephiles. Zephiles caught one but the other car hit that car and the two exploded. Zephiles launched a huge fireball. Jason swerved the van but this time it was too much and the van tipped over on it's right side. He quickly hit a button on the dashboard and a huge burst of air exploded from holes on the right side of the van, knocking the van back up on four wheels. Zephiles picked up two cars and threw them both at the van. There was no dodging this one. The two cars slammed into the van, causing it to flip onto its top and slide across the road until, finally, it stopped. The group crawled out and took cover behind a building, blocking Zephiles' point of view.  
>"Anyone hurt?" Jason asked.<br>"My arm hurts, but that's about it." Blaze said.  
>"I'm fine." said Silver.<br>"Tails?" Jason asked.  
>"I'm fine, too." he answered.<br>"Good." said Jason. "All right. Anyone got any ideas?"

"Why won't you let me help Zephiles?" Wave asked. "Is it because I almost led them to the machine?"  
>"No." Mephiles answered. He had his back turned to her.<br>"Then why?" she asked again.  
>"BECAUSE..." Mephiles yelled, whipping around. "it's not part of THE PLAN!"<br>"Does everything have to go according to plan?"  
>"YES! I'VE SPENT TOO MUCH TIME PLANNING THIS OUT TO LET IT BE RUINED BY YOU OR ANYONE ELSE!"<br>Wave was starting to wish she hadn't asked. Mephiles was starting to scare her.  
>"I just wish I could play a bigger part in your plan." she said calmly. "That's it."<br>"Don't worry." Mephiles said, calmly. "You will play a bigger part in the plan than Zephiles. You just have to wait."  
>"Oh." Wave said, shocked. "I didn't-"<br>"You didn't know." Mephiles finished for her. "I know. But now you do." He turned back to the experimental chamber. "Now leave me. I've got work to do."  
>"Yeah." Wave said. "Sure." She turned and left the room.<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

A fireball hit the corner of the building, sending debris flying. Jason had to shield his eyes so no debris would get in. He looked around for anything they could use to their advantage. Zephiles lifted off into the air and flew to the spot on the road that formed a T shape with the building that Jason was using for cover, a restaurant, and behind Zephiles was a mall. He continued launching fireballs at cars and buildings.  
>"We have to stop him." Jason said.<br>"How?" Blaze asked.  
>Jason looked up and motioned for Blaze. He pointed up and cupped his hands together. She nodded and took a step back. Then she sprang forward, putting a foot in Jason's cupped hands, and he launched her in the air. She landed on the roof of the building and ran to fight Zephiles. Jason turned the far corner and saw Zephiles. And Zephiles saw him.<br>"You should just give up, Jason!" he yelled.  
>Jason took off to go fight him. He pulled the metallic rod from his pocket, which turned into the sword. It was the one Mekkaku had given him before and the one he used against Zephiles on Angel Island. Blaze launched an attack, too. Her arms were completely engulfed in flames and she started launching fireballs at Zephiles. He was almost seven feet away. This made it difficult for her because she had to occasionally dodge an attack from Zephiles tail. Jason ran under him and slid the sword across his foot. Zephiles roared and tried to crush him with his foot but missed. Jason ran up the wall behind Zephiles and kicked off, doing a back-flip and dodging an impale attack from Zephiles' tail. The tails blew a hole in the wall, revealing a dozen scared and confused shoppers. Zephiles swung his tail around, knocking Jason to the ground. Zephiles reached down, picked up Jason, and threw him through the restaurant. He stopped when he hit the building on the other side. Blaze stopped attacking Zephiles and went to help.<br>"Looks like I'm up." Sonic said.  
>"Be careful." Tails said.<br>"Aren't I always?"  
>He sped off and drew his newly made sword that Wave had made back when she was normal. He whipped around the corner a little too fast and ended up running on the side of the building behind Zephiles, who noticed him. He turned and launched a fireball. Sonic jumped off the wall and continued on the road. He jumped in the air and did a homing attack to Zephiles' head. He bounced off and landed on the roof where Blaze had been.<p>

"Told you he'd be mad."  
>"I don't wanna hear it." Wave said.<br>They were in another part of Mephiles' base which appeared to resemble a control room. It had been abandoned for years so there were cobwebs on all the switches, dials, and levers. Wave was sitting in a chair and the other was leaning against a control panel.  
>"Tried to warn you."<br>"I said, I don't want to hear it." Wave repeated.  
>"Could've gotten yourself killed, ya know."<br>"That's it." Wave said, getting up from the chair. She went over to her and grabbed her by the neck. "I told you I didn't want to hear it."  
>"You think I'm afraid?" she asked. "Of you?"<br>"You better be." Wave said.  
>"Oh, please." she said. She took her hand and grabbed Wave by her neck. Then she ran forward, pinning Wave against a wall.<br>"You can't beat me, Wave."  
>She tightened her grip around Wave's neck, causing Wave to let go. She held her grasp for another second and then let go. Wave had to gasp for breath. She turned and left the room, leaving Wave gasping for air.<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

Blaze landed next to Jason who was lying against the side of a factory. She knelt down next to him.  
>"You okay?" she asked.<br>"Yeah." Jason said with a groan.  
>"Good to see you still have your strength." she said.<br>"Yeah." Jason agreed. "If I didn't, I'd be dead. How much longer do you think I have until that goes away, too?"  
>"I;m not sure." Blaze said. "But you know something that I know won't go away?"<br>"What?"  
>"The way we feel about Wave." she said. "The wayyou feel. Now, are we going to let some over-sized lizard stop us from saving her?"<br>"No." Jason said with a smile.  
>"No." Blaze said, standing up and holding out her hand.<br>Jason took it and she helped him up. "Let's go save New York."  
>Sonic zipped to the side to dodge an airborne Mercedes-Benz. Then a Cadillac. And then a Chevrolet.<br>"You're gonna have to do better than that you overgrown lizard!" Sonic yelled.  
>Back at their starting point, Tails had an idea. He took off for the pharmacy which was located directly behind them. The same one Jason broke into earlier.<br>"Where are you going?" Jet asked.  
>"I have a plan!" Tails yelled back.<br>Jet looked at Silver, who just shrugged.  
>Zephiles changed spots again. This time he landed on the corner of the roof of the mall. The foundation cracked due to his weight. People ran out screaming. One person yelled, "Where's the army!" and someone else yelled, "Call the National Guard!" Jason and Blaze ran towards Zephiles. Sonic zipped down the road and stopped at the corner of the building next to the mall. He looked to his right and saw Jason and Blaze down the road coming to join the battle. He returned his focus to Zephiles who had launched a fireball at him. He quickly moved out of the way and the fireball struck the ground where he was standing.<br>"Your aim's fantastic Zephiles," Sonic yelled. "If we were statues!"  
>Zephiles growled and pulled his head back. Jason and Blaze joined Sonic.<br>"What's he doing?" Blaze asked.  
>"No idea." Sonic answered.<br>Jason waited a second before responding. "Guys?"  
>They looked at him.<br>"Yeah?" Sonic asked.  
>"Run." he answered.<br>Zephiles' mouth had flames dancing out of it. And it was only getting bigger and brighter.  
>"Run, now!" he said as he turned and ran.<br>Sonic and Blaze took a quick glance at Zephiles before running, too. Sonic had already made it to the next intersection. Jason and Blaze ran past the restaurant again.  
>"Jason's right, Blaze!" Sonic yelled. "Run! Faster!"<br>Zephiles launched a huge fireball towards them. It was about the size of 10 school buses. And it was getting closer. They had almost caught up with Sonic when Blaze tripped over a large metal pipe that used to be a stoplight. Jason leaped over it but stopped to help her.  
>"Come on, Blaze." Jason urged. "Get up."<br>Once he got her up, there was no time. The fireball was going to hit them. But it didn't. It just hovered in the air a few inches in front of them. They could feel the heat emitting from it. They looked to their right and saw Silver in the distance. He had his hands held up and was on one knee, struggling to keep his grip. He threw the fire ball back at Zephiles. The impact knocked Zephiles into the air and brought down that corner of the mall. Luckily, no one was inside. Zephiles flew off to the park. Jason and Blaze ran after him and so did Sonic. Silver joined back up with Jet and Knuckles and headed off for the park, too.

"Updates on the fight?" Mephiles said, sensing her presence. He was in a large room with pillars.  
>"Zephiles is succeeding in destroying the city but-"<br>"What of Jason?" Mephiles demanded.  
>"He's still alive." she answered. Zephiles appears to be losing the fight."<br>"Just as I thought." Mephiles said. "Continue watching. Let me know who wins."  
>"You got it." she said, turning to leave.<br>"And on your way out," Mephiles continued. "let Wave know I want to see her."


	22. Chapter 22

Silver picked up a car and launched it at Zephiles. It collided with one of his wings and he crashed into a tree in the park. Zephiles got back up on his feet and tried to flap his wing but it was crippled. He let out a low growl and folded his wings. He saw the others approaching and got down on all fours. Now he really looked like a lizard. Or at least a crocodile. Jason and the others rushed at Zephiles. Just then a missile struck Zephiles in the head. Everyone stopped and looked up. There were army jets approaching. F-22s to be exact.  
>"Oh, no." said Jason. "It's the army."<br>"What do you mean, "uh, oh"?" Blaze asked.  
>"They probably don't know which one of us are the good guys."<br>"Oh." Blaze said. "So, they'll attack all of us?"  
>"Probably." Jason said. "I've seen movies."<br>"Then let's finish this quickly."  
>A tank had rolled up next to the mall, turret aimed at Jason and Blaze. The tank's hatch opened up and a man emerged halfway. He was dressed in a general's uniform and was holding a walkie-talkie.<br>"Attention!" he said into the walkie-talkie. "Get the cat thing. Protect the civilians." He saw the others in the park. "And don't forget to get the others, especially the giant lizard."  
>"Oh, crap." Jason said. "Run, Blaze."<br>She looked at him and then ran. Jason looked back at Zephiles, who had made eye contact with him. He launched another couple fireballs and Jason dodged them. Blaze threw some fire at Zephiles, as well. Giving him a taste of his own medicine, as it were. Knuckles started punching Zephiles feet. He dodged a couple stomp and tail attacks. The F-22's fired more missiles. One almost hit Blaze. Sonic dodged an attack from a tank. Jason looked around at all the chaos. He saw his friends attacking Zephiles, and the army attacking themand Zephiles.  
>"This is crazy." Jason said to himself.<br>He ran at Zephiles and leaped into the air. About 10 feet to be exact.  
>"HE'S ONE OF THEM!"" the general yelled into his walkie-talkie. He closed the latch and the tank rolled forward.<br>Jason landed on Zephiles' back and swiped his sword, cutting off Zephiles' wings. They fell to the ground with a thud. Zephiles let out a loud roar and grabbed Jason, slamming him into the ground.  
>"Let me go!" Jason yelled.<br>Knuckles ran over and delivered a blow to Zephiles' hand that caused him to release his grip. Jason stood up and backed away. Tails came flying towards him holding a plastic bag.  
>"What's in the bag?" Jason asked when Tails landed.<br>"A few explosives I made from various chemicals and pills."  
>Jason reached in the bag and pulled one out. "Let's see if it works." he said, throwing it.<br>"Jason?" Tails asked.  
>"Yeah?" he asked back.<br>"You're supposed to push the button first." he said, holding one up to show him.  
>Jason took it. "Now you tell me." he said.<br>He pushed the button and threw it at Zephiles. The mini-bomb exploded, hurting Zephiles. He was able to throw the remaining bombs before a tank rolled up to him. The tank fired at Jason but Silver caught the tank shell and threw it at Zephiles.

"You wanted to see me?" Wave asked. She found Mephiles in the large room with the pillars.  
>"Yes." Mephiles said. "Zephiles will lose the fight soon and then Jason will be on his way here to try and save you. I just hope you're ready to do your part."<br>"I am." Wave said.  
>"Remember, Wave... you're more important to this plan than you realize."<br>"I got it." she said.  
>"Good. Now I have to prepare for my fight with Jason. When he arrives, try your hardest to stop him once and for all."<p> 


	23. Chapter 23

Silver picked up two more ore cars and slammed them into Zephiles' head. He let out a roar, ripped a tree out of the ground, and threw it. It landed on a tank, causing it to blow up. Soldiers started coming out of the tanks.  
>"Oh, come on!"<br>Zephiles took off toward a bunch of warehouses next to the hotel. Jason took off after him. He was stopped by a group of soldiers. They aimed their machine-guns at him.  
>"Freeze!" one of them yelled.<br>Jason stopped moving and put up his hands. Zephiles looked back and fired a fireball at the soldiers. Jason dove forward towards the soldiers.  
>"I said FREEZE!" the soldier yelled again. He fired a shot that struck Jason in the shoulder, but that didn't stop him. He tackled two of the soldiers to the ground just as the fireball passed over them. Jason got up and took off towards Zephiles.<br>"Did he just save us?" a soldier asked.  
>Silver and Blaze ran past the soldiers and joined up with Jason at the warehouses.<br>"You can't beat me Jason!" Zephiles yelled.  
>A large crows of people, along with a few soldiers, and a tank, were approaching.<br>"Silver." Jason said. "I have an idea. I'll need your help, though."  
>"Sure." Silver said. "What?"<br>Zephiles crawled on top of one of the warehouses.  
>"Come on, Jason! let's finish this!" he yelled. "Where are you?"<br>"Right here, Zephiles." Jason said, stepping out into the open.  
>Zephiles tore a chunk out of the warehouse and threw it at Jason. It knocked him into the warehouse behind him. He slowly crawled out of the hole and back outside. Zephiles crawled off of the roof and made his way towards Jason, like a snake slithering over the pavement. Jason got up on his feet.<br>"Ready to die, Jason?"  
>"Are you?" he asked, with a smile.<br>Zephiles didn't say anything.  
>"NOW!" Jason yelled.<br>Silver raised two cars into the air. Jason turned and ran towards one of the walls of a warehouse. He ran up the wall and kicked off, doing a back-flip, and drawing his sword. Silver brought the two cars down on Zephiles' head causing him to become slightly dazed. Jason dropped down on Zephiles' neck and drove the sword into his head. He let out a roar and then his tail stopped moving and he collapsed to the ground with a thud. Jason didn't move for a minute. He just sat on Zephiles' neck and inhaled deeply. He then slid off and put his sword away. The others gathered around to celebrate.  
>"Nice work, Jason." Jet said. "You killed him."<br>"He was getting on my nerves." Jason started to turn around. "Now to-"  
>There were soldiers pointing guns at them. The general was standing in the middle. There was a huge crows of civilians who were watching the whole event. Just when Jason thought the soldiers were going to fire, civilians started clapping and cheering. Jason didn't know what to think. The soldiers that he had saved before dropped their guns and clapped, too. The general walked up to Jason.<br>"What is your name, young man?" he asked.  
>"Jason, sir."<br>"Well, Jason. On behalf of the United States government, I'd like to personally thank you for saving the city of New York."  
>"So you're not gonna capture us, lock us up in test tubes, run experiments on us? Something like that?" Jason asked.<br>"No." he answered. "We were actually going to ask for your help."  
>"Really?" Jason asked. "You want our help? What would we have to do"<br>"Just do what you're doing; protect the people."  
>Jason smiled. "That's all I ever do, sir. What about the others?"<br>"The animals?"  
>"Yes, sir. The animals."<br>"They're in, too." the general said.  
>"This is really weird." Jason said. "I thought the army would lock us up or something. Like-"<br>"Like in the movies?" the general asked. "We're nothing like that. We have the ability to request help from those who obviously have the ability."  
>"Does this mean that my friends here can go out in public without being shot at?" The general didn't say anything. "Because the only way I'd accept would be if we worked freelance. I don't want to have to worry about all the top secret, low profile crap."<br>The general thought about it for a minute and then said, "Deal."  
>"All right!" Tails shouted.<br>Blaze and Silver high-fived each other. The soldiers started to leave. Blaze approached Jason.  
>"We should probably go." she said. "We still have to save Wave and stop Mephiles."<br>"Right." he said, turning back to the general. "Well, if you'll excuse us, we have a psychotic hedgehog to beat and one of my anthropomorphic friends to save."  
>The general saluted him. "Good luck."<br>Jason saluted him back."Thanks, sir." he turned to his friends. "All right, guys. Let's go bag us a hedgehog."


	24. Chapter 24

"Zephiles has lost."  
>"Just as I predicted." Mephiles said. They were back in the room with the experimental tubes. The original one was starting to form a shape but it was still unclear.<br>"They're on their way here, Mephiles. If he defeated Zephiles without any powers then how could we-"  
>"Calm down." Mephiles said. "This is all part of the plan. You just make sure you do your part. Remember... you owe me. If it hadn't been for me, then you'd still be all alone."<br>"I know. I haven't forgotten." she said.  
>"Good. Now don't forget; you have complete control over what happens in the fight. Just know that whatever you decide will determine your future."<br>"I understand." she said.  
>Mephiles turned and walked away.<p>

The van sped down the road past the garage and the warehouses. It was missing a door and two of the tires were flat. They got to the woods where they encountered Wave and re-entered the cave. They continued on down the long tunnel until they came to a two-way intersection.  
>"Which way?" Blaze asked, looking to her left.. "Left?" She looked in the other direction. "Or Right?"<br>"How about left?" asked Tails.  
>"I was thinking right." said Knuckles.<br>Jason let out a short chuckle.  
>"What's so funny?" Blaze asked.<br>"The fate of of the world has come down to choosing whether to go right or left."  
>"Well, we need to choose the right one." Blaze said.<br>"I think Tails is right." Silver said. He was looking down the cave tunnel. "We should go left."  
>"Why do you say that?" Jason asked.<br>"Because Wave's down there." Silver answered.  
>Jason whipped around and saw Wave.<br>"Move!" he yelled, taking of down the others followed.  
>Wave smiled and took off in the opposite direction. She rounded the corner and stopped. Jason and the others finally reached the corner but Wave was gone. Jason looked down and saw a round metallic platform. There was a lever on the wall.<br>"What is it?" Sonic asked.  
>"Must be a portal." Jason guessed.<br>"Why do you say that?" Jet asked.  
>"Well, where'd Wave go?" he said, stepping on the platform.<br>"What're you doing?" Blaze asked.  
>"I'm going after her." he said, pulling the lever.<br>Nothing happened. He still stood there with his hand holding the lever. He looked around.  
>"Well, that was disappointing." Jason said, releasing the lever.<br>As soon as he let go, the lever snapped back into place and Jason disappeared in a flash of light.  
>"I'll go next." Blaze said.<br>When she reached for the lever she received a shock. She pulled her hand back and watched as the lever short- circuited. The panel came loose and hung by a wire. This caused the lever portion to fell to the ground.  
>"Oh, no." Blaze said.<br>"No worry." Tails said. "I can fix this. I'll just need some time."  
>"How long?" Sonic asked.<br>"Hard to say." he said, before taking off for the van.  
>"Remember, we turned left!" Silver reminded him.<br>"Hang on, Jason." Blaze said. "We're coming."


	25. Chapter 25

Jason opened his eyes. He was standing in a large room with large stone pillars.  
>"Wave?" his voice echoed. "You here?"<br>He stepped off of the teleportation platform and made his way to the center of the room. He looked around but couldn't see much. It was very dark and very creepy. He heard a scratching noise, like claws against metal.  
>"Wave?" he repeated.<br>He backed up into pillar. The pillars were all spaced evenly at six feet. He felt a clawed hand grab him by the leg. He was knocked to the floor.  
>"You're so weak, Jason." Wave said.<br>Jason got up. "You're fighting on the wrong side, Wave. You've gotta snap out of it."  
>"You don't get it, Jason. I like being bad. It's so much fun."<br>"This isn't like you. You're usually-"  
>"Enough talking." she said, blasting Jason with dark energy.<br>He crashed into a pillar and fell to the floor.  
>"How could you do that?" Jason asked getting back up.<br>"When Mephiles transfered some of his DNA to me, I got some of his powers. Transfer, speed, strength..." she raised her hand. "and dark energy blasts." She sent another blast of dark energy. This time, Jason dodged it.  
>Wave lunged at him, swiping her claws. Jason blocked the attack. Wave continued attacking and Jason continued blocking. Wave threw a punch but Jason grabbed her fist. Wave threw another punch and Jason grabbed that, too.<br>"You can't just keep blocking, Jason." Wave said. "Sooner or later, you'll have to attack."  
>"No, I don't." Jason said, struggling to hang onto her fists. She was surprisingly strong.<br>"We'll see." Wave said with a smile.  
>"I'm not gonna fight you."<br>"Your loss." she said.  
>She dropped her fists and delivered a kick that knocked Jason to the ground. She grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him up. Then she punched him twice in the stomach and threw him into a pillar. He stumbled, trying not to fall.<br>"You know... I wasn't going to attack you because I didn't want to hurt Wave." He stood straight up and stared into her eyes. "But you're not Wave. Not anymore."  
>She smiled. "Finally, you get it. I may be Wave but I'm not the Wave you befriended."<br>"Shame." Jason said. "I really liked her."  
>He delivered an uppercut and she stumbled backwards into a pillar.<br>"I see you still have your strength." Wave said, stepping away from the pillar. "You ready to fight?"  
>"Oh, it's on." Jason said.<br>Wave threw a punch. Jason ducked, causing Wave to punch a chunk out of the pillar. Jason threw a punch and Wave blocked it, delivering one of her own. Jason caught it, too. With great strain, Jason spun Wave around and threw her at a pillar. Instead of slamming into it, she grabbed onto it and crawled up into the shadows.  
>"Now that's not fair." Jason said.<br>"All's fair in love and war." Wave's voice echoed. "Isn't that right?"  
>"Where's the love?" Jason asked. "You're tryin' to kill me."<br>"But we are at war, aren't we?"  
>"I really wish we weren't." He pulled out his sword.<br>"Well, well, well." Wave's voice echoed. "Looks like you're starting to take this seriously."  
>"I'll do what I must." Jason said, getting ready to attack.<p> 


	26. Chapter 26

Wave leaped out of the shadows behind Jason. He angled the sword at his side and when Wave was close enough he spun around and whacked her with the flat end of the sword. She flew into a pillar in the corner of the room, causing it to shatter and collapse. He walked over to the pile of rubble to see if she was okay. She was. Wave exploded from the pile of stone and tackled Jason to the ground. She opened her mouth wide to reveal her sharp teeth. Jason put his arm under her beak to prevent her from chewing his face off. He took his free hand, balled it into a fist, and whacked her on the side of the head. She rolled off and Jason grabbed his sword. Wave tried to rush him but he kicked her into the wall. When she started to move away from the wall Jason held out his sword, the tip being right under her beak. He slowly moved forward until they were inches apart and the sword across her neck. She didn't move with fear of being cut.  
>"You gonna do it?" she asked.<br>"I'd rather not."  
>"Why won't you? I'm not going to change."<br>"Wave. Please."  
>"Just end it." she said. "What're you waiting for?"<br>"Because I.." he started.  
>"Because you're what? Spit it out."<br>"Because I care about you, alright?"  
>This took her by surprise and for the first time since she was normal her evil demonic smile faded.<br>"I care about you a lot. That's why I can't fight you."  
>"You-" was all she could get out.<br>"I made you a promise, Wave. Do you remember?"  
>"I..." she said. "I think."<br>He could see the evil in her face start to fade. Her eyes looked a little less evil. He slowly lowered his sword and let it fall to the ground. He then proceeded to put his hands on her shoulders.  
>"Do you remember what it was?" he asked.<br>"I... I can't..." she put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes tightly. "I can't remember."  
>"I promised that I would never let anything happen to you." he reminded her. "And I'm not about to break that promise."<br>"Jason, I-"  
>She let out a roar and fell to the ground on her hands and knees.<br>"Wave?" Jason asked worriedly.  
>"It hurts." she said through a groan.<br>Jason knelt down to help her up. She struggled to get to her feet. After a couple more seconds, the pain was gone. Wave looked at Jason and he instantly noticed a change. Her eyes were still red but he recognized the look. The old Wave was back. Emotionally, anyways.  
>"Wave?" he asked. "Is that you?"<br>She nodded. They both smiled and hugged.  
>"Well, isn't that sweet?"<br>They separated and looked at the other side of the room.  
>"Mephiles." Jason said.<br>"Aren't we the happy couple." Mephiles said, approaching them. "The human and the bird. It's almost like a fairy tale." He stopped a couple feet from Jason.  
>Jason stepped in front of Wave, blocking her from Mephiles.<br>"You're gonna pay for all that you've done, Mephiles."  
>"Oh, really?" he asked. "You don't have your powers anymore. I could kill you right now if I wanted to."<br>"That's where you're wrong Mephiles." Wave said.  
>She reached her hand around Jason and placed it on his chest. Dark energy shot out of Jason and transfered over to Wave. When the dark energy was gone, Wave collapsed to the floor.<br>"Wave?" he asked, looking down at her.  
>When he looked back at Mephiles he got a blast of dark energy. He flew into the wall. Mephiles went over, picked Jason up by the shirt collar, and threw him across the room. He turned to Wave. She was trying to get up but stumbled. He went over and knelt down next to her. She looked up at him, wondering what he was going to do.<br>"Do you realize what you've just done?" he asked her.  
>"I gave Jason a fighting chance."<br>Mephiles shook his head. "You've condemned yourself."  
>"What do you mean?" she asked. Confused.<br>"When you mixed my DNA with the DNA my assistant put into Jason, you just sealed your fate. If Jason wins this battle, and I'm guessing he will, not only will I die... butyou will die, too."  
>Wave let out a short gasp. "No."<br>"Too bad." Mephiles said. "You would've made a wonderful ally."  
>Wave didn't know what to say. She just thought about her future and wondered how much longer she had to live.<p> 


	27. Chapter 27

Jason unburied himself from the rubble of the pillar. Mephiles was walking towards him.  
>"You think you can win?" he asked.<br>"Oh, I know I can." Jason said.  
>"We'll see." Mephiles said, raising his fist.<br>He shot a burst of dark energy and Jason dodged it. Jason threw his hands forward and launched a burst of flames that temporarily blinded Mephiles. He had to shield his eyes. When the flames cleared, Jason was gone.  
>"Running away, Jason?" Mephiles asked, looking around.<br>"No."  
>Mephiles turned around and Jason punched him right in the face. He stumbled backwards. Jason went to get his sword. When he got there, he stopped to see if Wave was okay.<br>"Hey." he said. "How you doin'?"  
>"Not good." she said. "Jason... there's something you should know."<br>"What?" he asked.  
>Before she could answer, Mephiles blasted Jason with dark energy and he went crashing through the wall behind her. Jason tumbled across the floor until he hit a table. He got up and looked around. He was in some sort of chemical room. There was a door at both ends of the room and a pool of green, bubbly chemicals in the center. There were guard rails around the pool so no one would fall in. There was also various types of equipment scattered around the room like pipes and other science-y type stuff. Mephiles entered the room through the hole in the wall. Jason faced him and held his sword tightly.<br>"You think you can beat me with that sword?" Mephiles asked.  
>"I can try." Jason answered.<br>Mephiles threw a sphere of dark energy at Jason. Jason threw a sphere of light energy at Mephiles' sphere and the two canccelled each other out, and fading away.  
>"I see you've learned to use your powers more since our last little encounter." Mephiles said.<br>"Yeah, well... if I can beat Zephiles then I should have no problem beating you, too."  
>"Ah, yes." Mephiles said. "You've had quite the history, haven't you?"<br>"What do you mean by that?" Jason asked.  
>"First Metal Sonic and Mekkaku. And now Zephiles. You've even managed to overcome the poison within Wave. But I think your weakest victory was against my Leopard Seal in Antarctica."<br>"Your Leopard Seal?" Jason asked.  
>"Yes. I poisoned him and made him attack anyone who came near. And just as I predicted, it was the Babylon Rogues."<br>"Just as you predicted? What exactly did you predict?"  
>"Everything." Mephiles answered. "Everything from you joining the Babylon Rogues, to your journey to Anatarctica, and Mekkaku's defeat. Even Wave turning against me and giving you your powers back."<br>"You planned everything?" Jason asked.  
>"Yes. Everything that has happened to everything that willhappen. It's all part of my plan. You can't stop what is, Jason. You can't stop destiny."<br>"Maybe not. But I can still stop you."  
>"Maybe." Mephiles said. "But I assure you... it will notend with my death."<br>"We'll see." said Jason, raising his sword.


	28. Chapter 28

Mephiles held his hand out and a cloud of dark energy emitted from it. Then the dark energy formed into a sword.  
>"Let's see how Mekka's sword compares to my Dark Energy Saber." Mephiles said, holding the sword out, tip pointeed at Jason.<br>Jason went in for the attack and the two were locked in combat. Jason swung his sword and Mephiles dodged it, countering with kick that knocked Jason into the wall. He could see Wave trying to get up in the next room through the giant hole next to him. He finally came to and noticed Mephiles had executed a jab attack. Jason rolled against the wall, didging the attack and causing Mephiles to stab the wall. The Dark Energy Saber cut through the stone wall like a knife through butter. Jason tried to attack with his sword but Mephiles quickly slid his Saber out of the wall and blocked it. The two were now in a sword-lock, each one trying to out-power the other.  
>"How come you're so good with a sword?" Jason asked. "Mekkaku, I understand. But you-"<br>"Mekkaku was a robot." Mephiles said. "Who do you think programmed him?"  
>"The military?" Jason asked.<br>"No. Me." Mephiles said. "The army may have created him but I gave him life."  
>"You gave him life?" Jason asked.<br>"I needed someone to fight you to know who I was up against. Mekka proved to be the perfect test subject."  
>Mephiles broke the sword-lock and Jason stepped back, dodging an attack from Mephiles. Jason moved closer to the chemical pool while blocking attacks from Mephiles. Mephiles stopped attacking and Jason looked behind him. He suddenly had an idea. Mephiles took a step back and ran at him. Jason stepped out of the way and Mephiles went past him.<br>"Have a nice swim, Meph." Jason said.  
>Mephiles went off the edge but instead of falling in, he hovered over it. Mephiles let out an evil laugh.<br>"Did you really think I'd fall for that, Jason?" Mephiles asked.  
>"Apparently not." answered Jason. "Couldn't hurt to try."<br>"True." Mephiles agreed. "But then again, you were never the one to plan ahead."  
>"Huh?" Jason asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"<br>"You have no idea what I'm capable of do you?"  
>"Oh, I think I've seen what you're capable of." said Jason.<br>"Oh, really?" said Mephiles. "You haven't seen anything yet."  
>He shot a blast of dark energy at the ceiling. It started to crack and chunks of cement came crashing down. The ones that fell into the chemical pool vaporized. Must be acid, thought Jason. The ones that were about to hit him, he caught with psychokinesis. Mephiles had turned into a cloud of gas, causing the cement chunks to fall right through.<br>"That's cheating." Jason said, catching and throwing the falling debris.  
>He noticed something weird. There was no sunlight shining through the holes. There was another floor above them, though it wasn't really a floor. Once the ceiling finished collapsing, it revealed catwalks and platforms. Mephiles solidified and floated up to one of the catwalks.<br>"What's the matter, Jason?" he asked. "Afraid of heights?"  
>"No." Jason said, using psychokinesis to use one of the cement chunks as an elevator. "Just falling from them." He stepped off the cement chunk and onto the catwalk.<p> 


	29. Chapter 29

Mephiles swung his sword and Jason blocked. Mephiles then aimed a blast of dark energy at Jason's feet but Jason jumped up and stuck out his feet. He was now balancing on the railings on the sides of the catwalk. Mephiles floated upwards and hovered in front of Jason, making them level again. Mephiles unleashed a flury of attacks. Jason had a hard time blocking. Jason fell backwards onto the platform. He used one of the railings to help himself up.  
>"Come on, Jason." Mephiles said. "I expected more of a challenge."<br>"You want a challenge?" Jason asked. "You got it."  
>He swung his sword. Mephiles blocked. Jason threw his sword up in the air and caught it upside-down. Mephiles attacked and Jason blocked it. Another sword-lock.<br>"Give up." Mephiles said. "You've already lost."  
>"We'll see about that."<br>Jason shot Mephiles with a sphere of light energy which sent him flying to the catwalk that was a few feet away. Jason looked down and saw the acid pool. He concentrated some of his energy and leaped across to the other catwalk. He missed and hung on to the railing with one hand. He saw Mephiles getting up. Jason hoisted himself up over the railing just in time to block a dark energy attack from Mephiles. He stood up and threw about ten fireballs. Mephiles blocked eight of them. The other two didn't seem to do a lot of damage.  
>"That the best you can do?" Mephiles asked. "A little heat?"<br>"Oh, there's more where that came from.."  
>Jason ran at Mephiles and attempted a jab attack. Mephiles jumped passed Jason and swung his sword, cutting the side of Jason's chest. Jason fell to his knees and Mephiles landed behind him. He turned around to look at Jason.<br>"Whoops." Mephiles said. "Looks like I've cut you." Jason looked over at him. "Shame." Jason started to get up. He got to one knee. "Give up, Jason. It's no use fighting."  
>"I'll never give up."<br>"Remember what Mekkaku showed you at the military base? The file?"  
>"Yeah." Jason said. "It was fake. He was just saying those things to get me to join the Metaru."<br>"No, Jason." Mephiles said. "It's true. All of it."  
>"What are you saying?" Jason asked, curiously. He had stopped trying to get up.<br>"When you were just a child, I injected you with a special serum that I made from your friends' DNA. Oh, it required quite a lot of time traveling to get it just right. When I gave it to you while you were asleep, I wasn't sure if it would work or not. That is the reason why I had Mekkaku fight you. To see how powerful you had become. I was proud of how powerful you'd become but disappointed that you betrayed us. If you had stayed with Mekkaku and killed your pathetic friends like you were supposed to then the world would've been ours already. But you had to go and ruin it, didn't you?"  
>"You're lying." Jason said.<br>"Am I? Search, deep down inside. You know it's true. How else would you have these powers? A freak accident as a child? Born with it? This isn't a movie, Jason. This is reality. You must accept the reality that you're given because you're only given one. And that's the one where I win and the world loses."  
>"I'm not gonna let you get away with this." Jason said standing up.<br>He ran at Mephiles who punched him across the face, knocking him over the railing. Jason grabbed on to one of the bars but his sword fell into the acid pool below him and melted.  
>"Looks like you lost your toy." Mephiles said. "Now all you have are your powers."<br>Jason grabbed Mephiles' arm and yanked him over the edge and the two fell. Mephiles hovered above the acid pool and Jason, using psychokinesis, used a piece of debris on the floor as a platform. He hopped off onto dry land and turned to face Mephiles.  
>"Come on, Meph." Jason said. "Bring it!"<br>"If you say so." Mephiles said.  
>He crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his head. A dark energy cloud poured out of him and covered his entire body. Jason held up his fists, ready for an attack. The dark cloud started to disappear and Mephiles looked different. Like the same before only various parts of his body was crystallized and shining. Mephiles The Dark Hedgehog had now become Mephiles The Dark Crystal Hedgehog. The fight was far from over and Jason still did not know the condition of Wave and what would happen to her if he won this fight.<p> 


	30. Chapter 30

"There's no way you can win, Jason." Crystal Mephiles said. "Your fate is sealed."  
>"I don't believe that." Jason said. "Your future can change depending on your current actions."<br>"True." Mephiles said. "But I had already predetermined  
>your actions when forming my plan. Everywhere you go has been thought out and everything you do has been planned. There's no escaping what is, Jason. I have formulated the perfect plan."<br>"We'll see." Jason said. "I can still kill you."  
>"Not if you can't touch me." Mephiles said.<br>"What do you-" Jason started to ask.  
>Mephiles rose up and then dove at Jason's shadow. Jason looked down and saw his shadow turn into the silhouette of Mephiles.<br>"Now that's not fair!" Jason yelled.  
>Just then a stream of dark energy rose out from Mephiles and circled the room. Once it had finished creating a ring around the fighting area, it started to form Mephiles clones.<br>"And neither is that!" he yelled. "Come on!"  
>"What's the matter, Jason?" Mephiles asked. Jason looked down. "Afraid you're going to lose?"<br>"No." Jason answered. "It's just that by doing this... it makes you look like a coward."  
>"We'll see who the coward is once my clones have mopped the floor with you."<br>"Ooh." Jason taunted. "I'm so scared."  
>"Attack!" Mephiles ordered his clones.<br>The ring of Mephiles clones rose up and darted at Jason one by one. Jason shot balls of fire at them. He wiped out about 5 of them. 95 clones remained. Two more swooped down and tried to claw his face but Jason grabbed their arms and slammed them together. Then he threw them to the ground and finished them off with a light energy attack. 93 clones remained.  
>"This is gonna take a while." Jason thought aloud.<br>Six clones came running at him, shooting dark energy attacks. Jason dodged them and threw some debris at them using psychokinesis. The debris took out three of them and the others kept coming. Jason then launched three fireballs at the remaining ones and took them out. 87 clones remained. Two more came running at him, both carrying a copy of Mephiles sword. One of them swiped at Jason's neck and the other at Jason's feet. In order to dodge this, Jason had to do a mid-air spin in between the swords and then land on the ground. He the then grabbed them by the legs and tripped them. He stomped on their heads, causing them to burst into a cloud of smoke. 85 clones remained. He looked up above a group of 15 clones and saw one of the catwalks. He used psychokinesis to throw some debris at it. It fell, crushing the group and causing the pole that was holding it to the ceiling to fall, taking out two more. 68 clones remained.  
>"Yeah!" Jason yelled, triumphantly. "Get some!"<br>"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Jason." Mephiles said from Jason's shadow. "You still have 68 more to go."  
>This time, Jason went on the attack. He charged a group of 10 clones. He slid under one as it was attacking, grabbed it by the leg, and swung it around, knocking the surrounding clones to the floor. Jason stood up and threw a fireball at two of them. Then the others got up and started throwing punches. Jason blocked them and occasionally launching a couple of fireballs, taking out the group. 58 clones remained. Jason was starting to get bored and irritated. He used psychokinesis to slid the fallen catwalk across the floor, taking out most of the remaining clones. Now only 20 remained.<br>"I count only 20 left, Mephiles." Jason said. "This sure wasn't a challenge."  
>"Just wait." Mephiles said.<br>Jason noticed something weird. The remaining 20 clones were forming together to create a giant Mephiles. It stood about 5ft. taller than Jason.  
>"You have got to be kidding me!" Jason yelled. "Will this never end?"<br>"Oh, it'll end, Jason." Mephiles. "Once I've finally killed you!"


	31. Chapter 31

The large Mephiles clone approached Jason, every step making a thud. When it got close enough, it went for the attack. It threw a punch down at Jason but missed. Jason jumped out of the way as the giant fist slammed into the ground. Jason ran under its legs and grabbed a pole from a pile of debris. The large clone turned around. Jason ran at the clone, used the long pole as a javelin, launched himself in the air, and kicked the clone in the head. It stumbled backwards and crashed through the wall. They were back in the room where Jason fought Wave. Jason saw her and wanted to see if she was alright but the clone had started attacking again. It launched a ray of dark energy at Jason. He moved out of the way as the beam impacted the spot where he was just standing. Jason powered up a light energy sphere and launched it at the Mephiles clone. It blew of its left arm.  
>"That's what I'm talking about!" Jason yelled triumphantly.<br>Then the arm grew back. Jason was about to yell out of anger but noticed that the clone had begun to shrink a little. "So every heavy attack I do wipes out one of the clones." Jason thought aloud.  
>18 clones remained. He ran at the large clone but didn't pay enough attention. The clone swung its fist and knocked Jason into a pillar, shattering it. Wave watched the fight, not knowing what to do. All she could think about was how much she wished that they could start all of this over. About how much she wished that she hadn't chased that figure into the sewers. She knew it was the end. But she just couldn't believe it. Jason got up and blocked a dark energy attack from the clone with a light energy attack. He ran at the clone and launched two powered-up light energy attacks at the clone's arms. The vaporized but grew back, causing the clone to shrink a little again. 16 clones remained. He may have wiped out two more clones but the large clone was still pretty large. If you want to bring math into it, then the Mephiles clone is now 16 times bigger than Jason. The clone approached and Jason telepathically threw all of the debris at the clone, taking out its arms and its right leg. It fell to the ground and Jason launched a powered-up energy sphere at the clone, vaporizing its other leg. Its arms and legs grew back and it slowly stood up. It was now 12 times bigger than Jason.<br>"You still have a ways to go, Jason." Mephiles said.  
>"Yeah." Jason said. "I know."<br>Jason was getting sick of this. He telepathically picked up two piles of debris and threw hem at the large clone, completely vaporizing the bottom half. The top part fell to the floor but the rest of the body soon grew back. It was now 6 times bigger than Jason. Jason was about to launch a light energy attack but a pain shot all through his body. He fell to his hands and knees.  
>"What's the matter?" Mephiles asked. "Getting weak?"<br>Jason looked up at the large clone, and with all the strength left in his body, sent out an enormous energy blast that completely vaporized the clone. 0 clones remained. Jason collapsed and lay on the floor. The large clone had finally been defeated. Wave continued to watch. She had nothing else to do. She wants Jason to win but at the same time, hopes he doesn't.


	32. Chapter 32

Mephiles left Jason's shadow and looked down at him.  
>"Just as I thought." Mephiles said. "You haven't fully adapted to your powers. You're weak." he said, kicking Jason in the stomach. Jason landed on his back and tried to catch his breath. "If you had joined us like you were supposed to, then you would've learned how to be unbeatable. Your powers could've increased. But no. You decided to betray us and save the world. I'm starting to regret giving you this power. Maybe I should've found someone else."<br>"I don't think so, Mephiles." Jason said. "Remember fate? Well, I think I'm starting to believe. I was meant to have this power. I'm supposed to defeat you."  
>"Really?" Mephiles said. He grabbed him by the neck and threw him into a pillar. "You're doing a bad job."<br>Jason got up and tried to punch him. Mephiles grabbed Jason's fist and punched him five times before throwing him into the wall behind him.  
>"I'm more powerful in this form, Jason. You couldn't beat me before. How do you expect to beat me now?"<br>Jason started to get up. Mephiles stepped on his back, pressing him against the floor. Jason placed his hands down on the ground and fired light energy. It shot them both in the air. Jason fell back to the ground but Mephiles floated back down.  
>"A futile attempt Jason." Mephiles said. He shot Jason with dark energy. Jason yelled in pain. "There's no point in continuing. I'll give you one last chance. Join me or die."<br>Jason looked over at Wave. If only he knew. He looked back at Mephiles. "Never."  
>"Poor choice." He grabbed Jason and threw him across the room.<br>Jason hit the ground a slid across the hard floor. Mephiles started walking towards him. Jason tried to get back up.  
>"Don't bother." Mephiles said, still approaching. "Stay down. I guarantee you will feel more pain if you resist. Join me and that won't happen. I assure you."<br>"I don't believe that." Jason said.  
>"Believe it. You have two choices. Fight and, if you win, feel more pain and suffering than you have ever felt before or join me and do what you were meant to do. I leave that to you."<br>"I'm going to fight you. And I'm going to win. And me and my friends are going to do everything we can to keep the world safe."  
>"Those are some pretty powerful words coming from someone who hasn't been able lay a single punch." Mephiles said. "But I'll tell you what. Give up. Give up and die. I'll take good care of your friends. Or maybe I'll just kill them, starting with the bird."<br>"Wave." Jason said.  
>"Then the cat."<br>"Blaze. No." Jason said, struggling to get up.  
>Mephiles stopped when he got to him and raised his fist. Dark energy engulfed his fist. Just then, light emitted from Jason's entire body.<br>"What?" Mephiles said. "What's this?"  
>A huge light explosion came from Jason, knocking Crystal Mephiles across the room. He got up and looked over at Jason, who was now standing up.<br>"Let's do this, Meph." Jason said.


	33. Chapter 33

Jason ran at Crystal Mephiles. Mephiles swung a punch and Jason ducked, sliding under the attack. He stood up and kicked Mephiles in the back. Mephiles fell to the ground but quickly got back up. He turned around to face Jason.  
>"Very impressive, Jason." Mephiles said.<br>Mephiles' sword reformed in his hand. He swung the sword and Jason grabbed the blade. Mephiles pulled the sword out of Jason's hand, cutting his palm. Jason let out a quick yell of pain. He punched Mephiles in the face and felt pain. Mephiles spun around and delivered a side-kick to Jason's chest. He stumbled backwards but did not fall. Mephiles attempted a jab attack but Jason stepped to the side. He grabbed Mephiles' fist that held the sword. Mephiles floated up to the ceiling. Jason let go and Mephiles dove at him. Jason moved out of the way and Mephiles landed back on the ground.  
>"Finally." Mephiles said. "A fight."<br>Jason unleashed a combo of punches. Mephiles blocked them all and tried to kick him. Jason grabbed his foot and flipped him. Mephiles did a back-flip in the air and launched an energy blast at Jason, knocking him over. Mephiles landed on top of Jason, hard, knocking the wind out of him. He stepped off of his stomach and pressed his foot hard on Jason's throat.  
>"What's the matter, Jason." Mephiles said. "Can't breathe?" He let out a sinister laugh. "To think you could actually beat me. I'm different from Zephiles, Jason. I'm tougher. I'd knew he'd fail. Don't you see? It's all part of the plan." Mephiles held up his sword. "This was fun, Jason. But I'm afraid it ends here."<br>"Yeah. You're right." Jason said.  
>Mephiles tried to stab Jason with his sword and, in a flash, Jason slid out from Mephiles' foot, kicked the sword out of Mephiles' hand, grabbed the sword, and stabbed Mephiles through the stomach.<br>"No!" Wave yelled  
>There was a flash of light by the teleporter and the others appeared.<br>"It's about time." Knuckles said.  
>They spotted Jason and Mephiles.<br>"All right, Jason!" Sonic yelled.  
>Blaze looked over at Wave. "Wave?"<br>Mephiles looked in Jason's eyes. "Just as I planned."  
>"Huh?" Jason asked.<br>Mephiles started laugh as he faded away into nothing.  
>"What's that mean?" Jason asked.<br>"JASON!" Blaze yelled. She sounded like she was in panic.  
>He turned around and saw her knelt beside Wave.<br>"Wave?" Jason asked.  
>He ran over to them, dropping Mephiles' sword. He slid into a kneeling position beside Wave and scooped her up in his arms<br>"Wave?" he asked. She didn't say anything. "Wave?" he asked, shaking her a little. The others gathered around. "Wave! Say something! Anything!" His eyes started to water. "Wave!"  
>"Jason." Blaze said. She had tears in her eyes, too. "She can't hear you. She's gone."<br>"No!" Jason yelled. "No, she's not!"  
>"Jason." Blaze said. "I'm sorry."<br>"Wave." Jason said softly.  
>"Oh, no." Tails said softly. "Wave."<br>"This can't be happening." Sonic said.  
>"What happened to her?" Jet asked.<br>Just then, Jason remembered something Mephiles had said earlier. "Fight and, if you win, feel more pain and suffering than you have ever felt before..." He then remembered what Wave said. "Jason... there's something you should know."  
>"Wave. I'm so sorry."<p> 


	34. Chapter 34

The Babylon Rogues exited the cave and the army was waiting for them.  
>"How'd it go?" the general asked.<br>"We saved the world again," Blaze said. "but..."  
>The general saw Jason carrying Wave.<br>"Should I call a medic?" he asked.  
>"No." Jason said. "She's dead."<br>"Oh." the general said. "I'll take her and make sure that she receives a proper burial. Okay?"  
>Jason nodded. "Thanks, sir." he said.<br>"It's the least I can do." he said, picking up his walkie-talkie. "I need a medical vehicle immediately."  
>When the medics arrived, Jason placed Wave on the stretcher.<br>"Hey." he said, as the medics were going back inside the vehicle. "Be careful with her."  
>"That's our job." one of them said. Then the medical vehicle drove away.<br>Jason watched and then started walking away.  
>"Hey." Blaze said, catching up. Jason stopped. "Jason, I'm... I'm so sorry." She hugged him.<br>Jason hugged her back. "I miss her, Blaze. I'm never gonna see her again."  
>"I know." she said. "I know."<br>"Jason." the general said, approaching.  
>Jason and Blaze separated. "Yeah?" Jason asked.<br>"We've found a place where you can set up your base of operations. It's like a really large summer home with a pool and other features."  
>"Sounds nice." Jason said.<br>"So what do we call your group?" the general asked.  
>The others gathered around. Jason looked at them all and then back at the general.<br>"We're the Freedom Fighters."


End file.
